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Best Management Practices for Small Egg-Producing Flocks and “The Law”

Biographical Information:

David D. Frame Utah State University

David D. Frame graduated from Utah State University in 1980 with a B.S. in Animal Science and attended veterinary school at Oregon State University. After graduation, he completed a residency at the University of California, Davis in avian medicine. He was subsequently employed as chief veterinarian for Moroni Feed Company, Moroni, Utah where he worked for 12 years before joining the Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences (ADVS) faculty at Utah State University in 1998.

Dr. Frame is an Associate Professor in the ADVS Department. He is the USU Extension Poultry Specialist and is board certified in the American College of Poultry Veterinarians.

Dr. Frame has been extensively involved in avian influenza field work and was asked to participate in a national task force to combat an outbreak of low pathogenicity avian influenza in Virginia and West Virginia in 2002. Since joining the faculty at USU, Dr. Frame has worked closely with the Utah turkey and egg industries.

Dr. Frame has served on various national boards, including the General Conference Committee of the National Poultry Improvement Plan, an advisory committee to the United States Secretary of Agriculture. He presently serves as editor for the Western Poultry Disease Conference, an internationally renowned poultry disease forum.

A life-long love of poultry hallmarks Dr. Frame’s career. In earlier years he bred, raised, and showed many different breeds and varieties of exhibition chickens and has judged local poultry shows for a number of years.

Session Description:

This presentation will give an introduction of the current regulatory situation regarding food production, briefly describe the FDA Egg Rule, discuss key FAQs regarding egg production, and offer best management practices for small egg producers in order to provide a clean, safe commodity (i.e. table eggs).

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FOOD SAFETY On many people’s mind. . . . On government’s mind. . . . Food safety has been and continues to be an important concern of the egg industry.

NEW FDA FOOD SAFETY MODERNIZATION ACT

The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the most sweeping reform of our food safety laws in more than 70 years, was signed into law by President Obama on January 4, 2011. It aims to ensure the U.S. food supply is safe by shifting the focus from responding to contamination to preventing it.

Two major proposed FSMA rules on January 4, 2013:1) Preventive Controls for Human Food2) Standards for Produce Safety

These two FSMA rules are part of an integrated reform effort that focuses on prevention and addresses the safety of foods produced domestically and imported, with additional rules to be published shortly.

FDA EGG RULE

Implementation began July 9, 2012 for farms of 3000 to 49,999 layers.

Components: • Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) program for each farm• Rodent control• Fly control• Cleaning and disinfection of SE (+) houses• Biosecurity between flocks• Refrigeration• Testing of pullets and layers• Plan for diversion of eggs to pasteurization if manure tests (+) for SE

STATE EGG QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAMS

State Egg Quality Assurance Programs (EQAPs) are voluntary programs based on Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) system principles and designed around production, management, and monitoring practices implemented to decrease the risk of Salmonella Enteritidis illness. EQAP's have been found to play a major role in the reduction of Salmonella illness in the U.S.

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FAQs

Q: What are free-range eggs?A: Free-range eggs are from hens that live outdoors or have access to the outdoors. Modifications for seasonal variations are acceptable. The nutrient content of eggs from free-range hens is the same as those from hens housed in production facilities with cages and without cages.

Q: Do egg laying hens receive hormones?A: Egg laying hens are not given hormones. Some egg cartons say that the eggs are “hormone free”; however, this is true for all eggs in commercial egg production in the United States. ALL eggs contain natural hormones.

Q: Where can I find information on organic eggs?A: Eggs that are labeled organic and have the U.S. Department of Agriculture organic seal on the carton were produced following the USDA National Organic Program standards. To learn more, go to www.ams.usda.gov/nop.

Q: What does “Antibiotic Free” mean?A: Some egg cartons say that the hens were not given antibiotics. This statement is true for all eggs produced in the United States, even if it is not specified on the carton. Hens may be given antibiotics for therapeutic purposes when ill; however, when they are ill, hens typically stop laying eggs.

BEST MANAGENT PRACTICES FOR SMALL EGG LAYING FLOCKS

Husbandry • Minimize exposure to wild birds – especially waterfowl.• Feed a balanced diet for optimum maturity and egg laying.

- Higher protein during growth and development. - Sufficient calcium (3.5 to 4%) for hens in production.

• Provide more waterers than you think you’ll need!Rodent Control

• Rodent control found to be highly correlated to SE infection in layers.Egg sanitation

• Gather eggs at least twice daily – more often in extremely hot weather.• Supply sufficient quantity of nest boxes and keep full of clean dry bedding.• Promptly remove broody hens from main flock.

Egg storage • Wash eggs only if needed.• Cool as soon as possible to 45°F; store at this temperature.• Do not keep eggs in prolonged storage.

Abide by all local and state laws for public sales

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http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop

Common sense business practices Have records to show that you are doing what is in your operational plan. Keys to passing inspections: "Say What You Do and Do What You Say."

FURTHER INFORMATION AND FACT SHEETS

http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/GuidanceDocuments/FoodSafety/ucm285101.htm

http://www.americanhumane.org/animals/programs/farm-animal-welfare.html

http://extension.usu.edu/htm/publications/by=category/category=39

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USDA – Farm Service Agency, “Farm Loan Programs”


Korry L. Soper Farm Service Agency

Korry grew up in Panguitch, Utah. He owned and operated his own livestock operation consisting of sheep and hogs until he went to college in 1984. He liquidated his assets from that operation and used the funds to put himself through school. Korry graduated from Utah State University in 1989 with an Agribusiness Degree and a minor in Business Administration. He began his career with USDA working for the Farmers Home Administration in Blackfoot, Idaho and transferred to the Farm Service Agency in Manti, Utah in 1998. Currently, he is the Farm Loan Manager for the Sanpete County FSA office and the Sevier County FSA office. These offices provide farm loan assistance and guarantees to Sanpete, Sevier, Piute and Wayne county producers. Presently, he lives in Manti, UT.

Travis Cartright Farm Loan Officer Farm Service Agency

Travis Cartright is from Ephraim and currently resides in Ephraim. He is married and has 5 kids. Travis graduated from Snow College and from Utah State University with a dual major in Finance and Management. He currently raises hay on 30 acres of ground near Ephraim and has worked for the Farm Service Agency for 11+ years. He really enjoys helping beginning farmers and ranchers get their start in their own operations.


Information will be presented outlining the different types of farm loans offered by the Farm Service Agency.

• Microloans• Youth Loans• Direct Operating Loans• Direct Farm Ownership Loans

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• Bank Guarantees

FSA makes direct and guaranteed farm ownership and operating loans to family-size farmers and ranchers who cannot obtain commercial credit from a bank, Farm Credit System institution, or other lender. FSA loans can be used to purchase land, livestock, equipment, feed, seed, and supplies. Our loans can also be used to construct buildings or make farm improvements.

FSA loans are often provided to beginning farmers who cannot qualify for conventional loans because they have insufficient financial resources. FSA also helps established farmers who have suffered financial setbacks from natural disasters, or whose resources are too limited to maintain profitable farming operations.

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FACT SHEETUNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUREFARM SERVICE AGENCY

January 2013

Microloans

Overview

The Farm Service Agency (FSA) developed the Microloan (ML) program to better serve the unique financial operating needs of beginning, niche and the smallest of family farm operations by modifying its Operating Loan (OL) application, eligibility and security requirements. The program will offer more flexible access to credit and will serve as an attractive loan alternative for smaller farming operations like specialty crop producers and operators of community supported agriculture (CSA).These smaller farms, including non-traditional farm operations, often face limited financing options.

Use of Microloans

Microloans can be used for all approved operating expenses as authorized by the FSA Operating Loan Program, including but not limited to:

• Initial start-up expenses;• Annual expenses such

as seed, fertilizer, utilities,land rents;

• Marketing and distributionexpenses;

• Family living expenses;• Purchase of livestock,

equipment, and othermaterials essential tofarm operations;

• Minor farm improvementssuch as wells andcoolers;

• Hoop houses to extendthe growing season;

• Essential tools;• Irrigation;• Delivery vehicles.

Simplified Application Process

The application process for microloans will be simpler, requiring less paperwork to fill out, to coincide with the smaller loan amount that will be associated with microloans. Requirements for managerial experience and loan security have been modified to accommodate smaller farm operations, beginning farmers and those with no farm management experience. FSA understands that there will be applicants for the ML program who want to farm but do not have traditional farm experience or have not been raised on a farm or within a rural community with agriculture-affiliated organizations. ML program applicants will need to have some farm experience; however, FSA will consider an applicant’s small business experience as well as any experience with a self-guided apprenticeship as a means to meet the farm management requirement. This will assist applicants who have limited farm skills by providing them with an opportunity to gain farm management experience while working with a mentor during the first production and marketing cycle.

Security Requirements

For annual operating purposes, microloans must be secured by a first lien on a farm property or agricultural products having a security value of at least 100 percent of the microloan amount, and up to 150 percent, when available. Microloans made for purposes other than annual

operating expenses must be secured by a first lien on a farm property or agricultural products purchased with loan funds and having a security value of at least 100 percent of the microloan amount.

Rates and Terms

Eligible applicants may obtain a microloan for up to $35,000. The repayment term may vary and will not exceed seven years. Annual operating loans are repaid within 12 months or when the agricultural commodities produced are sold. Interest rates are based on the regular OL rates that are in effect at the time of the microloan approval or microloan closing, whichever is less.

More Information and Eligibility Criteria

Additional information on the FSA microloan program may be obtained at local FSA offices or through the FSA website at www.fsa.usda.gov.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, political beliefs, genetic information, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Stop 9410, Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call toll-free at (866) 632-9992 (English) or (800) 877-8339 (TDD) or (866) 377-8642 (English Federal-relay) or (800) 845-6136 (Spanish Federal-relay). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

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October 2012

Farm Loans

Overview

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) makes and guarantees loans to family farmers and ranchers to promote, build and sustain family farms in support of a thriving agricultural economy. FSA maintains its headquarters in Washington, DC, with offices located in each state, usually in a state capital or near a state land-grant university, as well as in most agriculturally productive counties. Farmers may apply for direct loans at local FSA offices. Guaranteed loans may be available from commercial lenders who apply for loan guarantees from FSA. Although general information may be obtained from headquarters and state offices, all programs are administered through local offices.

The goal of FSA’s farm loan programs is to graduate its borrowers to commercial credit. Once a farmer is able to obtain credit from the commercial lending sector, the Agency’s mission of providing temporary, supervised credit is complete.

FSA Farm Loans

FSA’s loan programs are designed to help family farmers to start, purchase or expand their farming operation. In many cases, these are beginning farmers who need additional financial and business acumen to qualify for commercial credit. In other cases, they are

farmers who have suffered financial setbacks from natural disasters, or who need additional resources with which to establish and maintain profitable farming operations.

Some farmers obtain their credit needs through the use of loan guarantees. Under a guaranteed loan, a commercial lender makes and services the loan, and FSA guarantees it against loss up to a maximum of 90 percent in most cases. In certain limited circumstances, a 95 percent guarantee is available. FSA has the responsibility of approving all eligible loan guarantees and providing oversight of lenders’ activities.

For those not yet meeting the qualifications for a loan guarantee from a commercial lender, FSA also makes direct loans, which are serviced by an FSA official. FSA has the responsibility of providing credit counseling and supervision to its direct borrowers by making a thorough assessment of the farming operation. FSA helps applicants evaluate the adequacy of the real estate and facilities, machinery and equipment, financial and production management, and the applicant’s goals. FSA assists the applicant in identifying and prioritizing areas needing improvement in all phases of the operation. An FSA official then works one-on-one with the applicant to develop and to help strengthen the identified areas that ultimately result in

the applicants graduation to commercial credit.

Unlike FSA’s commodity loans, most farm loans must be fully secured and can only be approved for those who have repayment ability.

Farm Ownership Loans

Eligible applicants may obtain direct loans up to a maximum indebtedness of $300,000. Maximum indebtedness for guaranteed loans is $1,302,000 (amount adjusted annually for inflation). The maximum repayment term is 40 years for both direct and guaranteed farm ownership loans. In general, loan funds may be used to purchase a farm, enlarge an existing farm, construct new farm buildings and/or improve structures, pay closing costs, and promote soil and water conservation and protection.

Farm Operating Loans

Eligible applicants may obtain direct loans for up to a maximum indebtedness of $300,000, and guaranteed loans for up to a maximum indebtedness of $1,302,000 (amount adjusted annually for inflation). The repayment term may vary, but typically it will not exceed seven years for intermediate-term purposes. Annual operating loans are generally repaid within 12 months or when the commodities produced are sold. In general, loan funds may be used for normal operating expenses, machinery and equipment,

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FACT SHEETFarm Loans October 2012

minor real estate repairs or improvements, and refinancing debt.

Targeted Funds to Socially Disadvantaged and Beginning Farmers

Each year Congress targets a percentage of farm ownership and farm operating loan funds to socially disadvantaged (SDA) and beginning farmers. For more information, refer to the FSA Fact Sheet, “Loans for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers.”

Downpayment Program

FSA has a special loan program to assist SDA and beginning farmers in purchasing a farm. Retiring farmers may use this program to transfer their land to future generations.

To qualify:

■ The applicant must makea cash down payment of at least 5 percent of the purchase price.

■ The maximum loanamount does not exceed 45 percent of the least of (a) the purchase price of the farm to be acquired; (b) the appraised value of the farm to be acquired or; (c) $500,000 (Note: This results in a maximum loan amount of $225,000).

■ The term of the loan is 20years. The interest rate is 4 percent below the direct FO rate, but not lower than 1.5 percent.

■ The remaining balance maybe obtained from a commercial lender or private party. FSA

can provide up to a 95 percent guarantee if financing is obtained from a commercial lender. Participating lenders do not have to pay a guarantee fee.

■ Financing from participatinglenders must have an amortization period of at least 30 years and cannot have a balloon payment due within the first 20 years of the loan.

Rural Youth Loans

These are available as direct loans only and have a maximum loan amount of $5,000. Rural youth loans may be made to individuals who are sponsored by a project advisor, such as a 4-H Club, FFA or local vocational instructor. Individuals must be at least 10 but not more than 20 years old to be eligible and reside in a town or city with a population of 50,000 or fewer people.

Emergency Loans

These loans are available only as direct loans from FSA. Emergency Loans assist farmers who have suffered physical or production losses in areas declared by the President as disaster areas or designated by the Secretary of Agriculture as disaster or quarantine areas (for physical losses only, the FSA Administrator may authorize Emergency Loan assistance). For production loss loans, applicants must demonstrate a 30 percent loss in a single farming enterprise. Applicants may receive loans up to 100 percent of production or physical losses.

Loan purposes include

operating and real estate, restoring/replacing essential property, production costs for disaster year, essential family living expenses, reorganization and refinancing certain debts.

The maximum indebtedness under the Emergency Loan program is $500,000.

Conservation Loans

Conservation loans are available as guaranteed loans only. Eligible applicants may use Conservation Loan funds to complete any conservation activity included in a conservation plan or Forestry Management Plan, and may be used to refinance debts related to implementing any conservation activity if refinancing will result in additional conservation benefits. Maximum indebtedness is $1,302,000 (amount adjusted annually for inflation) and the maximum repayment term is 30 years.

Note: The family farm and test for credit requirements are not applicable to Conservation Loans.

Land Contract Guarantees

These provide certain financial guarantees to the seller of a farm through a land contract sale to a beginning or socially disadvantaged farmer. The seller may request either of the following:

Prompt Payment Guarantee: A guarantee up to the amount of three amortized annual installments plus the cost of any related real estate taxes and insurance.

Standard Guarantee: A

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FACT SHEETFarm Loans October 2012

guarantee of 90 percent of the outstanding principal balance under the land contract.

The purchase price of the farm cannot exceed the lesser of (a) $500,000 or (b) the market value of the property. The buyer must provide a minimum down payment of five percent of the purchase price of the farm. The interest rate is fixed at a rate not to exceed the direct FO loan interest rate in effect at the time the guarantee is issued, plus three percentage points. The guarantee period is 10 years for either plan regardless of the term of the land contract. The contract payments must be amortized for a minimum of 20 years. Balloon payments are prohibited during the 10-year term of the guarantee.

Loan Servicing and Supervised Credit

FSA’s mission is not limited to providing just credit - it is to provide supervised credit. This means that FSA works with each direct loan borrower to identify specific strengths and opportunities for improvement in farm production and management, and then works with the borrower on alternatives and other options to address the areas needing improvement to achieve success. Learning improved business planning and financial acumen through supervised credit is the difference between success and failure for many farm families.

To help keep borrowers on the farm, FSA may be able to provide certain loan servicing benefits to direct loan

borrowers whose accounts are distressed or delinquent due to circumstances beyond their control. These benefits include:

■ Reamortization,rescheduling, and/or deferral of loans;

■ Rescheduling at the LimitedResource (lower interest) rate;

■ Acceptance of conservationcontracts on environmentally sensitive land in exchange for reduction of debt; and■ Writing down the debt(delinquent borrowers only).

If none of these options results in a feasible farm operating plan, borrowers may be offered the opportunity to pay off their debt at the current market value of the security. If this is not possible, other options include:

■ Debt settlement based oninability to repay.

■ In some cases, where afeasible operating plan cannot be developed, FSA works with commercial lenders to help the borrower retain the homestead and up to 10 acres of land.

Farms that come into FSA ownership are sold at market value, with preference given to SDA and beginning farmers.

Who May Borrow

To qualify for assistance, applicants must meet all loan eligibility requirements including:

■ Be a family farmer;

■ Have a satisfactory history ofmeeting credit obligations;

■ For direct OL loans, havesufficient education; training, or at least 1-year’s experience in managing or operating a farm or ranch within the last 5 years. For direct FO loans, all applicants must have participated in the business operations of a farm for at least three years out of the 10 years prior to the date the application is submitted;

■ Be a citizen of the UnitedStates, including Puerto Rico, the U. S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Republic of Pallau, Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Marshall Islands, a U.S. non-citizen national, or a qualified alien under federal immigration law;

■ Be unable to obtain creditelsewhere at reasonable rates and terms to meet actual needs;

■ Possess legal capacity toincur loan obligations;

■ Not be delinquent on afederal debt;

■ Not have caused FSA a lossby receiving debt forgiveness (certain exceptions apply) and;

■ Be within the timerestrictions as to the number of years they can receive FSA assistance.

In the case of an entity, certain eligibility requirements apply. The entity must:

■ Meet applicant eligibilityrequirements;

■ Be authorized to operate a

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FACT SHEET

farm in the state where the actual operation is located and;

■ Be owned by U.S. citizens,U.S. non-citizen nationals or qualified aliens.

For SDA members, they must hold a majority interest in the entity applicant to receive SDA benefits.

If the individuals holding a majority interest in the entity are related by blood or marriage, at least one member or partner must operate the family farm. If they are not related by blood or marriage, the member holding a majority interest must operate the farm.

For More Information

Additional information may be obtained at local FSA offices or through the FSA website at www.fsa.usda.gov.


Farm Loans October 2012

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October 1, 2012 1

Guaranteed Loan Program

Loan Purposes

Guaranteed Ownership Loans

Guaranteed Farm Ownership (FO) Loans may be made to purchase farmland, construct or repair buildings and other fixtures, develop farmland to promote soil and water conservation, or to refinance debt.

Guaranteed Operating Loans

Guaranteed Operating Loans (OL) may be used to purchase livestock, farm equipment, feed, seed, fuel, farm chemicals, insurance, and other operating expenses. Operating Loans can also be used to pay for minor improvements to buildings, costs associated with land and water development, family living expenses, and to refinance debts under certain conditions.

Maximum Loan Size

FSA can guarantee OLs or FO loans up to $1,302,000 (amount adjusted annually based on inflation).

Borrower Eligibility

To qualify for an FSA Guarantee, a loan applicant must:

be a citizen of the United States (or legal resident alien), whichincludes Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa,and certain former Pacific Trust Territories.

have an acceptable credit history as determined by the lender. have the legal capacity to incur the obligations of the loan. be unable to obtain a loan without a guarantee. not have caused FSA a loss by receiving debt forgiveness on more

than 3 occasions on or prior to April 4, 1996; or any occasion afterApril 4, 1996.

be the owner or tenant operator of a family farm after the loan isclosed. For an OL, the producer must be the operator of a family farmafter the loan is closed. For an FO Loan, the producer needs to alsoown the farm.

not be delinquent on any Federal debt.

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October 1, 2012 2

Entities (corporations, cooperatives, joint operations, partnerships, trusts, and limited liability companies) and their members/stockholders must meet these same eligibility requirements. The entity must also be authorized to operate a farm or ranch in the State where the land is located.

What Other Criteria Does FSA Consider?

In addition to meeting the eligibility criteria, the loan applicant must have a satisfactory credit history, demonstrate repayment ability, and provide sufficient security for the loan.

If the Producer Qualifies, What Next?

The following actions are usually taken as part of the application process:

The producer and lender complete the guaranteed application andsubmit it to FSA (FSA will assist if needed.)

FSA reviews the application for eligibility, repayment ability, security,and compliance with other regulations.

FSA approves and obligates the loan. The lender receives a conditional commitment indicating funds have

been set aside, and the loan may be closed. The lender closes the loan and advances funds to the producer. FSA issues the guarantee.

Loan Terms and Interest Rates

Repayment terms vary according to the type of loan made, the collateral securing the loan, and the producer's ability to repay. OLs are normally repaid within 7 years and FO loans cannot exceed 40 years.

The Guaranteed loan interest rate and payment terms are negotiated between the lender and the borrower. Interest rates on these loans may not exceed the rate charged the lender's average farm customer. In addition, under the Interest Assistance Program, FSA will subsidize 4 percent of the interest rate on loans to qualifying borrowers.

Security

Each loan must be adequately secured. Collateral for OLs consists of a first lien on crops to be produced and on livestock and equipment purchased or refinanced with loan funds. A lien may be taken on certain other chattel and real estate property, and an assignment usually will be taken on income such as that from a dairy enterprise. Collateral for FO loans consists of real estate only or a combination of real estate and chattels. FSA staff determines whether the collateral proposed by the lender is adequate.

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October 1, 2012 3

Is this the Lender's Loan or an FSA Loan?

Guaranteed loans are the property and responsibility of the lender. The lender makes the loan and services it to conclusion. If successful, the borrower is able to repay the loan and no taxpayer money will be used except for administrative expenses. If a loan fails, and the lender suffers a loss, FSA will reimburse the lender with Federal funds according to the terms and conditions specified in the guarantee.

What Happens if the Loan Becomes Delinquent or the Borrower Defaults?

The lender must notify FSA when a borrower is 30 days overdue on a payment and is unlikely to bring the account current within 60 days, or if a loan is otherwise a problem. Lenders are encouraged to work with the borrower to resolve any problems.

Percent of Guarantee

For most loans, the maximum guarantee is 90 percent. The guarantee percentage will be determined by FSA based on the risk involved in the loan. The lender may receive a 95 percent guarantee when:

The purpose of the loan is to refinance direct FSA farm credit programdebt. If only a portion of the loan is for this purpose, a weightedpercentage of guarantee will be used.

The loan is made to a beginning farmer to participate in the beginningfarmer down payment loan program or a qualifying State beginningfarmer program.

Guarantee Fees

For most loans, FSA charges a guarantee fee of 1.5 percent of the guaranteed portion of the loan. This fee may be passed on to the borrower. The guarantee fee is waived for:

Interest assistance loans Loans where more than 50% of the loan funds are used to pay off

direct FSA loan debt Loans in conjunction with a Downpayment Farm Ownership Loan

program for beginning farmers or a qualifying state beginning farmerprogram. This fee waiver does not extend to all beginning farmers.

Secondary Market

The secondary market for USDA guaranteed loans is a key feature of the guaranteed lending program. The lender may resell the guaranteed portion of the loan to an interested party. The interested party then becomes the Holder of the loan, but the original lender must retain the loan servicing responsibilities. Investors who are looking for safe investments with a

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October 1, 2012 4

reasonable return are attracted to these loans because of the Government's full Faith and Credit guarantee against default. The existence of the secondary market makes guaranteed loan notes more liquid. By reselling the guaranteed portions, lenders reduce interest rate exposure, increase their lending capabilities, and generate fees.

Advantages of Using the Secondary Market

The existence of the secondary market is a strong inducement for lenders to become involved in guaranteed lending. Selling the guaranteed portion of the loan to other investors offers a number of advantages, including:

Reduced Interest Rate Risk. Lenders can transfer risk of interestrate increases on the guaranteed portion of a fixed rate loan.

Increased Liquidity. Selling the loan on the secondary market freesthe funds for additional lending or investing activity.

Increased Lending or Investing Capabilities. Since the guaranteedportion of the loan is generally not applied against a bank's lendinglimit, it can be used to expand lending capabilities.

Increased Return on Investment. The sale of the guaranteedportion of the loan in the secondary market increases the lender'soverall return on investment. Each time a bank sells a guaranteedportion, it generally retains a servicing fee.

Rates and Terms. Lenders may be able to offer the producer moreflexible repayment terms, as well as fixed and/or reduced interestrates to improve cash flow.

Where to Go for More Information

Further information and applications for FSA loan programs are available at the Agency's local county offices. These are usually listed in telephone directories in the section set aside for governmental/public organizations under the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency. To locate your local FSA Office, click here.

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD).

To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C., 20250-9410, or call (202) 720-5964 (voice or TDD).

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

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December 2006December 2006December

continues

By pooling, FSA is able to move money from areas where it is not being used to areas where it is needed. If there is enough left, the money will be redistributed to States. If there isn’t much left, the money will be held at the national offi ce, and States can request funding on a loan-by-loan basis. Pooling of unused loan funds most commonly happens in the spring.

What happens when an FSA loan program is out of money?

Congress may pass a supplemental appropriations bill to make additional money available. If Congress does not appropriate additional money, loans cannot be funded until the next fi scal year when new appropriations become available.

How does FSA allocate money to the States to make loans?

The Agency allocates money based upon the potential need for it. Money is allocated to States based upon the number of farmers in each State, the value of farm assets and net farm income. The biggest factor in dividing the money among the States is the number of farmers in each State. The loan volumes of previous years are sometimes considered as well. FSA does not allocate emergency loan money to States because it is impossible to predict the occurrence of natural disasters or declarations of

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Someone at the FSA offi ce told me the loan program I need to apply for is out of money. Why does FSA run out of money?

Each year Congress appropriates money for FSA farm loans as part of the USDA budget. The funds are appropriated for the Government’s fi scal year, which runs from October 1 until September 30 of the following year. The amount of money appropriated by Congress does not always meet the demand for loan funds and the Agency may run out of money for some programs.

The local offi ce tells me they are out of loan money. But I know people in other areas are getting loans. How can this be?

Each year, when FSA receives loan money in the budget, every State receives an allocation of money from the Agency. So, one State can deplete its funds and be out of money while other States are still funding loans.

What does FSA do when States start running out of money in loan programs?

When funds in a loan program start to run low and many States are out of money, the Agency will usually pool funds. Pooling means taking all of the unused loan money from the States and placing it in a National Headquarters pool.

quarantines. Instead, FSA makes money available for loans when a natural disaster or quarantine is declared. Emergency loan money is available on a fi rst-come, fi rst-served basis.

Is any of the money targeted or reserved for use by specifi c groups of farmers?

Yes. FSA reserves loan money for two specifi c categories:

Under-represented groups:

The law requires FSA to reserve or target a portion of its direct and guaranteed operating and farm ownership loan funds for use exclusively by socially disadvantaged applicants (SDA).

SDAs are classifi ed in one or more of the following categories: women, African Americans, Native Americans, Alaskan Natives, Hispanics, Asian Americans and Pacifi c Islanders. In the farm ownership loan program, the percentage of loan funds targeted for SDAs is based upon the State percentage of the total rural population made up of SDA groups, and the statewide percentage of total farmers who are female. In the operating loan program, the target is determined by the statewide percentage of total farmers from the SDA minority group, and the statewide percentage of total farmers who are female.

Fact Sheet

Farm Loan Programs FundingFrequently Asked Questions

United StatesDepartment ofAgriculture

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Fact SheetFarm Loan Programs Funding - Frequently Asked Questions

December 2006December 2006December

Beginning Farmers:

The law also requires FSA to reserve or target loan funds for exclusive use by beginning farmers, as follows: Direct Operating, 35 percent; Guaranteed Operating, 40 percent; Direct Farm Ownership, 70 percent; Guaranteed Farm Ownership, 25 percent. Funds remain targeted for beginning farmers in the guaranteed programs until April 1 of each fi scal year. In the direct programs, funds are targeted for beginning farmers until September 1 of each fi scal year.

When a loan program is out of money, should I still apply for a loan?

Yes!! Even when money has run out for a loan program, FSA still accepts, processes, and approves loan applications. Approved loans are held until money becomes available. Loans are funded in a dated order, based on the date the application was received. Submitting an application sets your place in the waiting line for funds, so it is to your advantage to apply for a loan even when there is no money available.

My application is approved, but there is no money available. How can I fi nd out where I stand and when there will be money for my loan?

Usually when this happens, the county offi ces are required to submit information about approved loans to the State offi ce. The State offi ce staff sets up a waiting list for the State using the loan application dates. The county offi ce can tell

you if your loan has been sent to the State offi ce and its status for funding.


Further information on FSA’s loan programs is available from local USDA Service Centers or on the FSA website at: www.fsa.usda.gov.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD). To fi le a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Offi ce of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

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Page 1

October 2012

Loans for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers

Overview

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) makes and guarantees loans to beginning farmers who are unable to obtain financing from commercial lenders. Each fiscal year, FSA targets a portion of its direct and guaranteed farm ownership (FO) and operating loan (OL) funds to beginning farmers.

A beginning farmer is an individual or entity who:

■ Has not operated a farmfor more than 10 years;

■ Meets the loan eligibilityrequirements of the program to which he/she is applying;

■ Substantially participatesin the operation and;

■ For FO purposes, doesnot own a farm greater than 30 percent of the median size farm in the county.

(Note: All applicants for direct FO loans must have participated in the business operations of a farm for at least three years out of the 10 years prior to the date the application is submitted). If the applicant is an entity, all members must be related by blood

or marriage, and all entity members must be eligible beginning farmers.

Maximum Loan Amounts

■ Direct FO or OL:$300,000;

■ Guaranteed FO or OL:$1,302,000 (Amount varies annually based on inflation).

Downpayment Program

FSA has a special loan program to assist socially disadvantaged (SDA) and beginning farmers in purchasing a farm. Retiring farmers may use this program to transfer their land to future generations.

To qualify:

■ The applicant must makea cash down payment of at least 5 percent of the purchase price.

■ The maximum loanamount does not exceed 45 percent of the least of (a) the purchase price of the farm to be acquired; (b) the appraised value of the farm to be acquired or; (c) $500,000 (Note: This results in a maximum loan amount of $225,000).

■ The term of the loan is 20years. The interest rate is 4 percent below the direct FO rate, but not lower than 1.5

percent.

■ The remaining balancemay be obtained from a commercial lender or private party. FSA can provide up to a 95 percent guarantee if financing is obtained from a commercial lender. Participating lenders do not have to pay a guarantee fee.

■ Financing fromparticipating lenders must have an amortization period of at least 30 years and cannot have a balloon payment due within the first 20 years of the loan.

Joint Financing Arrangement

Beginning farmers may choose to participate in a joint financing arrangement. With this arrangement FSA lends up to 50 percent of the amount financed and another lender provides 50 percent or more. The applicant will use funds from the joint financing arrangement along with FSA funds for any authorized FO purpose. The interest rates for such arrangements can be obtained from the local FSA office. The term of the loan will not exceed 40 years or the useful life of the security.

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FACT SHEETLoans for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers October 2012

Page 2


Land Contract Guarantees

These provide certain financial guarantees to the seller of a farm through a land contract sale to a beginning or socially disadvantaged farmer. The seller may request either of the following:

Prompt Payment Guarantee: A guarantee up to the amount of three amortized annual installments plus the cost of any related real estate taxes and insurance.

Standard Guarantee: A guarantee of 90 percent of the outstanding principal balance under the land contract.

The purchase price of the farm cannot exceed the lesser of (a) $500,000 or (b) the market value of the property. The buyer must provide a minimum down payment of five percent of the purchase price of the farm. The interest rate is fixed at a rate not to exceed the direct FO loan interest rate in effect at the time the guarantee is issued, plus three percentage points. The guarantee period is 10 years for either plan regardless of the term of the land contract. The contract payments must be amortized for a minimum of 20 years. Balloon payments are prohibited during the 10-year term of the guarantee.

Sale of Inventory Farmland

FSA advertises inventory property within 15 days of acquisition. Eligible SDA and beginning farmers are given first priority to purchase these properties at the appraised value. If one or more eligible SDA or beginning farmer offers to purchase the same property in the first 135 days, the buyer is chosen randomly.

Where to Apply

Applications for direct loan assistance may be submitted to the local FSA office serving the area where the operation is located. Local FSA offices are listed in the telephone directory under U.S. Government, Department of Agriculture or Farm Service Agency. For guaranteed loans, applicants must apply to a commercial lender who participates in the Guaranteed Loan Program. Contact your local FSA office for a list of participating lenders.


Further information about this and other FSA programs is available from local FSA offices or on the FSA website at www.fsa.usda.gov.

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The Grazing Improvement Program


Tom Tippets Utah Department of Agriculture

Tom Tippets works for the Grazing Improvement Program as the Central Region Coordinator


This session will discuss how the Grazing Improvement Program Cost Share works.

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Organic Certification


Roger Brian Utah Department of Agriculture and Food Organic Program

Roger Brian has been a Quality Compliance Specialist for the Utah Department of Agriculture & Food for the past 9 years, inspecting everything from Organic Certification to exported hay and many other agricultural areas. As an organic inspector for the UDAF for 8 of those years, he attended the OCIA accredited trainings for Organic Farming and Processing, doing between 10 and 20 organic inspection and reviews annually. Roger currently lives in Loa, Utah with his wife and 5 kids running a cow calf and sheep ranching operation that has been in the family for 4 generations.


This session will cover the USDA Organic certification process reviewing the NOP (National Organic Program) and some of the allowed and not allowed practices. We will also discuss the procedure for starting an Organic Operation, some of the record keeping requirements, and other organic production standards.

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National Organic Program | Agricultural Marketing Service | U.S. Department of Agriculture June 2012

What is Organic Certification?

Organic certification verifies that your farm or handling facility located anywhere in the world complies with the USDA organic regulations and allows you to sell, label, and represent your products as organic. These regulations describe the specific standards required for you to use the word “organic” or the USDA organic seal on food, feed, or fiber products. The USDA National Organic Program administers these regulations, with substantial input from its citizen advisory board and the public.

Who Certifies Farms or Businesses?

Your farm or handling facility may be certified by a private, foreign, or State entity that has been accredited by the USDA. These entities are called certifying agents and are located throughout the United States and around the world. Certifying agents are responsible for ensuring that USDA organic products meet all organic standards. Certification provides the consumer, whether end-user or intermediate processor, assurance of the organic product’s integrity.

What Can I Be Certified to Produce?

The USDA organic regulations recognize four categories of organic products:

- Crops: A plant that is grown to be harvested as food, livestock feed, fiber, or used to add nutrients to the field.

- Livestock: Animals that can be used for food or in the production of food, fiber, or feed.

- Processed products: Items that have been handled and packaged (i.e. chopped carrots) or combined, processed, and packaged (i.e. soup).

- Wild crops: Plants from a growing site that is not cultivated.

Is There a Transition Period?

Yes. Any land used to produce raw organic commodities must not have had prohibited substances applied to it for the past three years. Until the full 36-month transition period is met, you may not:

- Sell, label, or represent the product as “organic”

- Use the USDA organic or certifying agent’s seal

USDA provides technical and financial assistance during the transition period through its Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). Learn more at http://1.usa.gov/nrcs-eqip-apply.

How Much Does Organic Certification Cost?

Actual certification costs or fees vary widely depending on the certifying agent and the size, type, and complexity of your operation. Certification costs may range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars. Before you apply, it is important to understand your certifier’s fee structure and billing cycle. Typically, there is an application fee, annual renewal fee, assessment on annual production or sales, and inspection fees.

Once you are certified, the USDA Organic Certification Cost-Share Programs can reimburse you up to 75 percent of your certification costs. To learn more about this and other financial assistance programs, visit www.ams.usda.gov/NOPFinancialAssistance.

Can I Use the USDA Organic Seal?

All raw certified organic products may be labeled with the USDA organic seal. To learn more about organic labeling, including which processed or multi-ingredient products may use the USDA organic seal, visit www.ams.usda.gov/NOPOrganicLabeling.

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To become certified, you must apply to a USDA-accredited certifying agent. They will ask you for information, including:

- A detailed description of the operation to be certified.

- A history of substances applied to land during the previous three years.

- The organic products grown, raised, or processed.

- A written Organic System Plan describing the practices and substances to be used.

The certification and annual recertification processes are described to the right and below respectively.

To learn more about the becoming certified to the USDA organic standards and to find a certifying agent, visithttp://1.usa.gov/organic-certification.


How Do I Get Certified Organic?

Organic Certification Process

Producer or handler adopts organic practices; submits application and fees to certifying

agent

Inspector conducts an on-site inspection of

the applicant’s operation

Producer or handler provides annual update to

certifying agent

Certifying agent reviews the application and the

inspector’s report to determine if the applicant

still complies with the USDA organic regulations

Annual Recertification Process

Certifying agent issues organic certificate

Certifying agent reviews applications to verify that practices comply with USDA organic

regulations

Inspector conducts an on-site inspection of the applicant’s operation

Certifying agent reviews the application and the inspector’s report to determine if the

applicant complies with the USDA organic regulations

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Organic is a labeling term for food or other agricultural products that have been produced according to theUSDA organic regulations. USDA standards recognize four categories of organic production:

- Crops: Plants that are grown to be harvested as food, livestock feed, fiber, or used to add nutrients to the field.

- Livestock: Animals that can be used for food or in the production of food, fiber, or feed.

- Processed/multi-ingredient products: Items that have been handled and packaged (e.g., chopped carrots) or combined, processed, and packaged (e.g., bread or soup).

- Wild crops: Plants from a growing site that is not cultivated.

Organic standards cover the product’s lifecycle from production to processing and handling, including:

- Natural resource and biodiversity conservation.

- Animal health and welfare.

- Allowed and prohibited substances.

- Pesticide and other residue testing.

- Certification and labeling requirements.

- Annual on-site compliance inspections.

USDA ORGANIC REGULATIONS

The USDA organic regulations describe the specific standards required for organic agricultural products. Producers and handlers must meet these standards to use the word “organic” or the USDA organic seal on food, feed, or fiber. Organic operations must show that they protect natural resources, conserve biodiversity,

and use only approved substances. The USDA National Organic Program (NOP) administers these regulations, with substantial input from its citizen advisory board and the public.

ALLOWED + PROHIBITED SUBSTANCES

The organic standards are designed to allow natural substances in organic farming while prohibiting most synthetic substances. A portion of the USDA organic regulations list the exceptions to this basic rule. For example, sewage sludge, irradiation, genetic engineering, and most synthetic fertilizers and pesticides may not be used. In organic processed products, any non-organic ingredients must be specifically allowed (e.g., baking soda).

CERTIFICATION PROCESS

To become certified, producers submit an application for organic certification to a USDA-accreditedcertifying agent. This application includes:

- A detailed description of the operation to be certified.

- A history of substances applied to land during the previous 3 years.

- The organic products grown, raised, or processed.

- A written Organic System Plan describing the practices and substances to be used.

The USDA accredits State departments of agriculture and private organizations around the world to serve as certifying agents. Certifying agents first review the written application to ensure that practices comply

National Organic Program | Agricultural Marketing Service | U.S. Department of Agriculture November 2012

USDA OVERSIGHT OF ORGANIC PRODUCTS

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with organic regulations. An inspector then conducts an on-site inspection of the applicant’s operation. Afterward, the certifying agent reviews the inspector’s report. If the written application and the on-site inspection show that all practices comply with organic regulations, the agent grants certification to the operator for one year. Certification renewals follow the same process. http://1.usa.gov/organic-certification

All raw certified organic products may be labeled with the USDA organic seal. To learn more about organic labeling, including which processed or multi-ingredient products may use the USDA organic seal, visit www.ams.usda.gov/NOPOrganicLabeling.

COMPLIANCE + ENFORCEMENT

If a farm or business violates the USDA organic regulations, punishments may include financial penalties up to $11,000 per violation and/or suspension or revocation of an operation’s organic certificate. Certifying agents are also subject to compliance and enforcement actions.

Suspected violations of the organic regulations may be reported to the USDA. Send an email to [email protected] or call the National Organic Program at 202-720-3252.

ORGANIC TRADE PARTNERSHIPS

The USDA organic regulations allow foreign organic products to be sold as organic in the United States. This is possible through three channels, each of which is regularly audited to ensure compliance:

- An NOP-accredited certifying agent certifies the foreign farm or business to the USDA organic regulations.

- NOP authorizes a foreign government to accredit certifying agents within that country to the USDA organic regulations.

- The United States and a foreign country recognize each other’s organic standards as equivalent. This designation allows organic products certified in one country to be sold as organic in the other.

HISTORY + REGULATORY AUTHORITY

When Congress passed the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA, Title XXI of the 1990 Farm Bill), it set the foundation for national standards covering the production and handling of “organic” products. OFPA authorized USDA to establish the NOP to administer these standards and the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) to advise the NOP. The USDA organic regulations do not address food safety or nutrition.

The NOSB is designed by law to advise the NOP on which substances should be allowed or prohibited. Made up of dedicated public volunteers appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture, board members include organic growers, handlers, retailers, environmentalists, scientists, USDA-accredited certifying agents, and consumer advocates.

LOOKING FOR MORE INFORMATION?

The NOP provides additional resources on each of these topics on its website: www.ams.usda.gov/nop.

If you are considering organic certification or serve organic customers, visit USDA’s Organic Literacy Initiative at www.ams.usda.gov/organicinfo.

USDA OVERSIGHT OF ORGANIC PRODUCTS (continued)

CAN I USE THE USDA ORGANIC SEAL?

25

Who Needs To Be Certified?

Most farms and businesses that grow, handle, or process organic products must be certified, including:

- Farms that sell more than $5,000 in organic products per year (gross sales).

- Handlers that sell more than $5,000 of organic processed food, including handlers that place bulk products into smaller packages or that repackage/relabel products.

- Processors that sell more than $5,000 of organic processed products, unless all products contain less than 70 percent organic ingredients or only identify the organic ingredients in the ingredient statement.

- Vendors that handle (e.g. package) and sell products online (but not in stores) or otherwise deliver organic products.

Overall, if you make a product and want to claim that it or its ingredients are organic, your final product probably also needs to be certified. Please review the examples and exemptions below.

If you wish to make any organic claim on the granola’s principal display panel (front of the package), yes, you must be certified. Organic claims include any use of the word “organic” (alone or referring to specific organic ingredients) or the USDA organic seal. Only products meeting all requirements for the “organic” or the “100 percent organic” labeling categories may use the USDA organic seal anywhere on the package.

If you are only identifying specific organic ingredients in the ingredient statement

and aren’t making an organic claim elsewhere, review the “exempt handling operations” section on next page.

If you are a retail food establishment, review the “retail food establishments” section on next page.

Learn more about requirements for each labeling category at www.ams.usda.gov/NOPOrganicLabeling.

If you are only selling a pre-packaged product, you don’t need to be certified. The company that does the final packaging for your product must be certified and get any organic product label approved prior to sale.

Who Doesn’t Need to Be Certified?

The following operations do not need to be certified:

- Small organic farms and businesses (gross agricultural income from organic sales does not exceed $5,000 per year)

- Some brokers, distributors, and traders (see below)

- Retail food establishments.

- Exempt handling operations (see below).

Although certification is not required for these “exempt” or “excluded” operations, they may pursue voluntary organic certification. Exempt and excluded operations still need to comply with specific sections of the USDA organic regulations (please see other side).


Do I Need To Be Certified Organic?

I combine multiple certified organic ingredients to make organic

granola. Do I need to be certified?

Another company packages my product. They have an organic certificate.

Do I also have to be certified?

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Small Organic Farms and BusinessesIf your farm or business’ gross agricultural income from organic sales is $5,000 or less per year, it is considered an “exempt” operation. This means you don’t need to be certified to sell, label, or represent your products as organic. You also do not need to develop a written organic system plan. However, you must follow all other requirements in the USDA organic regulations. Specifically, you must:

- Maintain records for at least three years. - Not use the USDA organic seal on your products

or refer to them as certified organic. If you would like to use the USDA organic seal, pursue organic certification.

- Meet other USDA organic labeling requirements. - Not sell your products as ingredients for use in

someone else’s certified organic product. - Register with the California Department of Food

and Agriculture if your farm is in California.

Brokers, Distributors, and Traders Who Handle Products in Closed Containers

If your operation only sells, transports, stores, receives, or acquires products that are received in and remain in a container without being processed*, the operation does not need to be certified. An example of such an “excluded” operation would be one that handles boxed organic cereal. However, you must prevent commingling with non-organic products and contact with prohibited substances.

If your operation handles bulk, unpackaged organic products (such as cattle, milk, or grain), you need to be certified or be included under an organic producer or handler’s organic system plan.

Retail Food Establishments

If your operation is a retail food establishment, such as a grocery store, it does not need to be certified. You may sell certified organic products that bear the USDA organic seal, as long as you don’t process* them.

If your retail food establishment processes* certified organic products on its premises, the USDA organic regulations state that you must:

- Prevent commingling with non-organic products and contact with prohibited substances.

- Not use the USDA organic seal or refer to processed products as certified organic. If you would like to use the USDA organic seal, obtain organic certification.

- Meet other USDA organic labeling requirements.

Exempt Handling OperationsIf your handling operation:

- Only handles products that contain less than 70 percent organic ingredients (excluding salt and water) or

- Only identifies organic ingredients on the product’s information panel,

It does not need to be certified. However, the USDA organic regulations state that you must:

- Prevent commingling with non-organic products and contact with prohibited substances.

- Meet the USDA organic labeling requirements. - Maintain records for at least three years that

prove that the quantity of organic products sold were organically produced and handled.

Learn more: www.ams.usda.gov/NOP

Do I Need to Be Certified Organic? (continued)

*Processing: Cooking, baking, curing, heating, drying, mixing, grinding, churning, separating, extracting,slaughtering, cutting, fermenting, distilling, eviscerating, preserving, dehydrating, freezing, chilling, or otherwise manufacturing and includes the packaging, canning, jarring, or otherwise enclosing food in a container. 27

USDA- How Can I Participate in Farm Programs


Val Anderson USDA/ Farm Service Agency

Val Anderson grew up in Ephraim working on a small family farm raising hay, grain, cattle, hogs, and sheep. His education consisted of graduating from Snow College and completing both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics at Utah State University. He began his career working for Production Credit Association, now known as Western Ag Credit. He left PCA to co- manage a family hog operation. He began working for the USDA in 1983 and has been managing the Farm Programs in Sanpete County for the past 29 years.


A short presentation on the following:

Extension of 2008 Farm Bill

Eligibility requirements

Applicable Programs: Direct Counter Cyclical and ACRE Programs Marketing Assistance Loan and Loan Deficiency Payments Non-insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) Milk Income Loss assistance Program Crop Reporting

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Page 1

January 2013Nonrecourse Marketing Assistance Loans and Loan Deficiency Payments

Overview

The Food, Conservation, and En-ergy Act of 2008 (the 2008 farm bill) authorizes nonrecourse market-ing assistance loans (MALs) and loan deficiency payment (LDPs) for the 2008-2012 crops of wheat, corn, grain sorghum, barley, oats, upland cotton, extra-long staple cotton, long grain rice, medium grain rice, soybeans, other oilseeds (including sunflower seed, rapeseed, canola, safflower, flaxseed, mustard seed, crambe and sesame seed), dry peas, lentils, small chickpeas, large chick-peas, graded and nongraded wool, mohair, honey, unshorn pelts and peanuts. The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 extends the MAL and LDP provisions from the 2008 Farm Bill to the 2013 crop year; however, mohair is not eligible for 2013 MALs or LDPs, as required by Continuing Appropriations Resolu-tion, 2013.

See the fact sheet Fees and Ware-house Storage Credits Applicable to Cotton Loans and Transfers for additional information about MALs for cotton.

MALs and LDPs are marketing tools available to producers begin-ning upon harvest or shearing. The MAL provides an influx of cash when market prices are typically at harvest-time lows, which allows the producer to delay the sale of the commodity until more favorable market conditions emerge. Allowing producers to store production at har-vest or shearing provides for a more orderly marketing of commodities throughout the year.

MALs for commodities are consid-ered nonrecourse as the MAL can either be redeemed by repayment or by delivering the pledged collateral to the Commodity Credit Corpora-tion (CCC) as full payment for the MAL at maturity. MAL repayment provisions specify, under certain circumstances, that producers may repay at less than the loan rate (principal) plus accrued interest and other charges. Alternatively, loan deficiency payment (LDP) provi-sions specify that in lieu of securing a MAL producers may elect to re-ceive an LDP.

MAL repayment and LDP provi-sions are intended to minimize po-tential delivery of loan collateral to CCC, accumulation of CCC-owned stocks, storage costs, discrepancies in marketing loan benefits across state and county boundaries, and allow U.S. produced-commodities to be marketed freely and competi-tively. Accumulating CCC-owned stocks tends to make U.S.-produced commodities less competitive in world markets and can result in sub-stantial storage costs to taxpayers.

Producer Eligibility

To be eligible for a MAL or LDP, the producer must:

Comply with conservation and•wetland protection require-ments;Submit an acreage report to•account for all cropland on allfarms;Have and retain beneficial inter-•est in the commodity until theMAL is repaid or CCC takes

title to the commodity;Meet adjusted gross income•limitations described in a latersection.

Commodity Eligibility

To be eligible for a MAL or LDP, the commodity must:

Have been produced, mechani-•cally harvested or shorn fromlive animals by an eligibleproducer and be in storablecondition;Be merchantable for food, feed•or other uses as determined byCCC;Meet specific CCC minimum•grade and quality standards fornonrecourse MALs.

Beneficial Interest

A producer retains beneficial inter-est in the commodity if both of the following remain with the producer:

Control of the commodity. The•producer retains the ability tomake all decisions affecting thecommodity, including move-ment, sale, and the request for aMAL or LDP.Title to the commodity. The•producer has not sold or hasnot delivered the commodity orwarehouse receipt to the buyer.If delivered, title may be con-sidered to be transferred beforethe producer receives paymentfor the commodity. For ex-ample, title is considered trans-ferred if a producer executesan option to purchase withouta provision that states that titleand control remain with theproducer until the buyer exer-cises the option to purchase andthe option to purchase expires

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FACT SHEETNonrecourse Marketing Loans and LDPs January 2013

at the earlier of:

The maturity of any CCC loan1.secured by such commodity;The date CCC claims title to2.such commodity or;Another date provided in the3.option.

Once beneficial interest in the com-modity is lost, the commodity loses eligibility for a MAL or LDP and re-mains ineligible even if the producer later regains beneficial interest.

If the commodity is delivered to a buyer, processor, feedlot or mill that rejects the commodity because mini-mum standards are not met, benefi-cial interest shall not be considered lost by the producer if the commod-ity is returned to the producer.

The commodity is not considered rejected if the producer receives a reduced contract price for the com-modity.

For further information see the FSA fact sheet on Beneficial Interest Re-quirements. For MALs and LDPs, contact a local USDA Service Center or visit the FSA web site at www.fsa.usda.gov.

Loan Rates

The 2008 Farm Bill sets national loan rates at the levels shown in Table 1.

County and regional loan rates are based on each commodity’s national loan rate, and they:

Vary by county or region and;•Are based on the average prices•and production of the county orregion where the commodity isstored.

Settling Loans

MALs mature on the last day of the ninth calendar month follow-ing the month in which the MAL is

approved. A producer may settle an outstanding nonrecourse MAL:

Before maturity period by•repaying the MAL or;Upon maturity by forfeiting the•commodity to CCC.

For all loan eligible commodities, a producer may repay a MAL any time during the loan period at the lesser of the:

Loan rate plus accrued interest•and other charges or;Alternative loan repayment•rates as determined by CCC.

For wheat, feed grains and oilseeds, the CCC determined county market price is often referred to as the posted county price (PCP). PCPs are established and available at each local USDA Service Center. PCPs are based upon market prices at appropriate U. S. terminal markets, adjusted to reflect quality and loca-tion. PCPs are announced daily for wheat, feed grains, soybeans, canola, flaxseed, and sunflower seed, and weekly for other oilseeds.

For peanuts, CCC determines national posted prices for four types of peanuts and announces them weekly. For dry peas and lentils, CCC determines and announces regional posted prices weekly. For wool and large and small chickpeas, CCC determines and announces a national posted price weekly. For honey, CCC determines and an-nounces the national survey price monthly.

For long and medium grain rice and cotton, a producer may repay a MAL any time during the loan period at the lesser of the:

Loan rate plus accrued interest•and other charges or;Adjusted world price (AWP).•

The AWP is the prevailing world market price adjusted to U.S. quality

and location. AWPs are announced weekly.

Marketing Loan Gains

A producer realizes a marketing loan gain (MLG) if the MAL is repaid at less than the loan principal. The MLG rate equals the amount by which the applicable loan rate exceeds the MAL repayment rate.

Loan Premiums and Discounts

Loan premiums and discounts are determined according to the grade and quality of a specific quantity of a commodity that a producer pledges as loan collateral. Premium and discount schedules vary by commodity and are applied to the loan rate in the county where the commodity is stored. On a per-unit basis, premiums are added to and discounts are subtracted from the loan rate only when the MAL is forfeited to CCC, except for the commodities of cotton and peanuts.

Interest

The interest rate charged on a com-modity loan is set at one percentage point above CCC’s cost of borrow-ing from the U.S. Treasury at the time the loan is made as required by Section 163 of the Federal Agri-cultural Improvement and Reform Act of 1996. After a loan is made, the rate is fixed except the interest rate for loans outstanding on Jan. 1 is adjusted to reflect CCC’s cost of borrowing on Jan. 1, plus one percentage point.

Accrued interest is the amount of interest that accumulates while a loan is outstanding, starting with the day the loan is made. Accrued interest is calculated by multiplying: (i) the applicable interest rate times, (ii) the ratio of the number of days under loan (starting with the initial day and continuing through the day prior to the day a loan is repaid) to the number of days in a year (i.e.,

Page 230

365) times, (iii) the loan principal. Table 2 provides an example of how accrued interest is calculated

Loan Deficiency Payments (LDP)

A producer who is eligible to obtain a MAL, but who agrees to forgo the MAL, may obtain an LDP under certain market conditions. The LDP rate equals the amount by which the applicable loan rate where the commodity is stored exceeds the effective MAL repayment rate for the respective commodity. The LDP amount equals the LDP rate times the quantity of the commodity for which the LDP is requested. Table 3 provides an example of how MLGs and LDPs are calculated.

Other Requirements

Production Evidence

A producer who repays a MAL at less than the loan rate plus ac-crued interest and other charges or receives an LDP may be subject to a spot check and must provide production evidence acceptable to CCC, such as evidence of sales, warehouse receipts, or load sum-mary or assembly sheets.

Final Loan/LDP Availability Dates

Producers may obtain MALs or receive LDPs on all or part of their eligible production anytime during the loan availability period. The loan availability period runs from when the commodity is normally harvested (or sheared for wool) until specified dates in the following calendar year. The final loan/LDP availability dates for the respective commodities are listed in Table 4.

Adjusted Gross Income Limita-tion

A person or legal entity with an average adjusted gross nonfarm income that exceeds $500,000 is not eligible for MLG or LDP payments,

but is eligible for a MAL; however, the MAL must be repaid at principal plus interest.

For more information on AGI limitation, view the FSA fact sheet entitled, Adjusted Gross Income 2009 and Subsequent Crop Years, contact a local USDA Service Cen-ter, or visit the FSA website at www.fsa.usda.gov.

Payment Limitations

Beginning with the 2009 crop year and subsequent crop years, CCC will no longer limit payments on benefits associated with MAL or LDP programs.

Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE)

MAL rate will be reduced by 30 percent if production comes from a farm participating in the ACRE pro-gram. Alternative loan repayment rates will not be adjusted by 30 percent. The LDP rate for commodi-ties produced on farms enrolled in ACRE must include the 30 percent reduction from the MAL rate before determining the LDP rate. See fact sheet entitled ACRE Program, or contact a local USDA Service Cen-ter, or visit the FSA website at www.fsa.usda.gov.

More Information

For more information about FSA programs, contact the local FSA office or USDA Service Center, or visit the website at www.fsa.usda.gov.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all of its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, po-litical beliefs, genetic information, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program informa-tion (Braille, large print, audio-tape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).

To file a complaint of discrimina-tion, write to USDA, Assistant Sec-retary for Civil Rights, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Stop 9410, Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call toll-free at (866) 632-9992 (English) or (800) 877-8339 (TDD) or (866) 377-8642 (English Federal-relay) or (800) 845-6136 (Spanish Federal-relay).

USDA is an equal opportunity pro-vider and employer.


Page 331


Table 1. National Loan Rates, 2008-2013 CropsProduction

Unit 2008 2009 2010-2013

Wheat bushel $2.75 $2.75 $2.94Corn bushel $1.95 $1.95 $1.95

Grain Sorghum bushel $1.95 $1.95 $1.95Barley bushel $1.85 $1.85 $1.95

ELS Cotton pound $0.7977 $.07977 $.07977Upland Cotton pound $0.52 $0.52 $0.52

Oats bushel $1.33 $1.33 $1.39Long Grain Rice cwt $6.50 $6.50 $6.50

Medium Grain Rice cwt $6.50 $6.50 $6.50Soybeans bushel $5.00 $5.00 $5.00

Other Oilseeds cwt $9.30 $9.30 $10.09Dry Peas cwt $6.22 $5.40 $5.40Lentils cwt $11.72 $11.28 $11.28

Small Chickpeas cwt $7.43 $7.43 $7.43Large Chickpeas cwt N/A $11.28 $11.28

Wool, graded pound $1.00 $1.00 $1.15Wool, nongraded pound $0.40 $0.40 $0.40

Honey pound $0.60 $0.60 $0.69Peanuts ton $355.00 $355.00 $355.00

Table 2. Accrued Interest Calculation Examples

Facts Accrued Interest for Loan AApplicable Interest 3.150 %

Loan Principal $1,000Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Scenario 3

Days loan outstanding 90 120 150Days in a year 365 365 365

Accrued Interest $7.77 $10.36 $12.95

Table 3. Marketing Loan Gain/Loan Deficiency Payment Examples

County A MAL Repayment Rate Scenario($ per bushel)

Loan rate 1.95Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Scenario 3

Loan rate plus interest 1.98 1.98 1.98Effective Posted County Price (PCP) 2.05 1.90 1.98

MLG or LDP rate 0.00 0.05* 0.00*Does not include accrued interest.

Table 4. Final Loan/LDP Availability Dates by CommodityFinal Loan/LDP Availability Date Commodity

Jan. 31 Peanuts, Wool and LDP only for Unshorn Pelts

March 31 Barley, Canola, Crambe, Flaxseed, Honey, Oats, Rapeseed, Sesame seed and Wheat

May 31

Corn, Dry peas, Grain sorghum, Lentils, Mustard seed, Long grain rice, Medium grain rice, Safflower, Small

chickpeas, Large chickpeas, Cotton, Soybeans and Sunflower seed

Page 432


Page 1

January 2012

Land Contract (LC) Guarantee Program

Overview

The U.S. Department of Agricul-ture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) makes and guarantees loans to eligible farmers to buy and operate family sized farms.

The Land Contract (LC) Guaran-tee Program provides a valuable tool to transfer farm real estate to the next generation of farm-ers. Guarantees will be offered to the owner of a farm who wishes to sell real estate through a land contract to a beginning farmer or a farmer who is a member of a socially disadvantaged group. The guarantee provides an incentive to sell to individuals in these groups as it reduces the financial risk to the seller due to buyer default on the contract payments.

A land contract is an installment contract between a buyer and a seller for the sale of real property, in which complete ownership of the property is not transferred until all payments under the contract have been made.

Program Purpose

Guarantees can be used for financ-ing the purchase of a farm with a purchase price up to $500,000 on a new land contract.

Types of Guarantees

FSA offers two types of guar-antees under this program. The seller may request either of the following:

Prompt Payment Guarantee: A guarantee of up to the amount of

three amortized annual install-ments plus the cost of any related real estate taxes and insurance; or

Standard Guarantee: A guarantee of 90 percent of the outstanding principal balance under the land contract.

Program Eligibility

To qualify for assistance, buyers must meet eligibility requirements similar to those for the Guaran-teed and Direct Farm Ownership Programs.

Buyers must be owner/operators of the land contract farm at the time the contract is complete.Buyers must have a feasible busi-ness plan of operation.

Guarantee Period

The guarantee period is for up to 10 years for either type of guaran-tee, regardless of the term of the land contract.

Interest Rate

During the term of the guarantee, the interest rate must be fixed at a rate not to exceed the Agency’s direct farm ownership loan interest rate in effect at the time the guar-antee is issued, plus three percent-age points. (This rate is available from any FSA office.)

Land Contract Terms

The contract payments must be amortized for a minimum of 20 years and payments on the contract must be of equal amounts during the term of the guarantee.

Buyer Requirements

The buyer must provide a mini-mum down payment of five per-cent of the purchase price, plan to operate the farm, and be able to project the ability to make the land contract payments.


Additional information, including a complete list of borrower and seller eligibility criteria and appli-cation materials may be obtained at any FSA office or through the FSA website at www.fsa.usda.gov.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all of its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where ap-plicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, political beliefs, genetic information, repri-sal, or because all of part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assis-tance program. (Not all bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communica-tion of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).

To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Stop 9410, Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call toll-free at (866) 632-9992 (English) or (800) 877-8339 (TDD) or (866) 377-8642 (English Federal-relay) or (800) 845-6136 (Spanish Federal-relay). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

33


Page 1

February 2013

Honey Nonrecourse Marketing Assistance Loans and Loan Deficiency Payments

Overview

The Food, Conservation, and En-ergy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill) authorizes nonrecourse marketing assistance loans (MALs) and loan deficiency payments (LDPs) for the 2008 - 2012 crop of honey. The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 extends the MAL and LDP provisions for honey from the 2008 Farm Bill to the 2013 crop year.

Nonrecourse MALs and LDPs are administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA), on behalf of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC).

See the fact sheet Nonrecourse Marketing Assistance Loans/Loan Deficiency Payments for addi-tional information about MALs and LDPs by going to this web-site: www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/mal_ldp_2013.pdf

Honey Nonrecourse Marketing Assistance Loan

Honey nonrecourse MALs provide eligible producers with interim financing on their production, fa-cilitates the orderly distribution of loan-eligible honey throughout the year and allows the producer to delay the sale of their honey until more favorable market conditions emerge. A producer may satisfy the loan obligation by deliver-ing to CCC the quantity of honey pledged as collateral for full pay-ment of the loan at maturity.

Eligibility

To be eligible for a honey nonre-course MAL or LDP, a producer must have:

Produced honey in the United•States during the calendaryear for which the loan isrequested and extracted honeyon or before Dec. 31 of theapplicable crop year;Had a continuous beneficial•interest in the honey throughdate of repayment of the loanand;Been responsible for the•financial risk of keeping thebees and producing the honey.

To be eligible for a MAL or LDP, the honey must:

Have been produced by an•eligible producer;Have been produced and•extracted in the United Statesduring the applicable calendaryear;Be of merchantable quality•deemed by CCC to be suitablefor loan and;Be stored in acceptable con-•tainers.

Adjusted Gross Income

Producers or legal entities whose average adjusted gross nonfarm income exceeds $500,000 are not eligible for marketing loan gains or LDPs, but are eligible for MALs that must be repaid at principal plus interest.

Program Availability

The CCC makes nine-month nonrecourse MALs available to producers on 2008-2013 crop honey.

Final Loan/LDP Availability Date

Eligible producers must submit

requests for honey nonrecourse MALs on or before March 31 of the calendar year following the applicable crop year.

Maturity Date

Loans mature on demand, but no later than the last day of the ninth month after the note and security agreement were approved.

Loan Rate

The 2008 Farm Bill sets the national loan rate for honey as follows:

60 cents per pound for 2008•and 2009 crop years;69 cents per pound for 2010•through 2012 crop years;69 cents per pound for 2013•crop year.

Where to Request Loans

If the honey is stored on the producer’s farm, the producer is required to apply at the FSA county office serving the area. If the honey is stored at a location other than the producer’s farm, the producer is required to ap-ply at either (1) the county office serving the storage location or (2) the county office serving the area in which the producer’s main busi-ness is located.

Other Program Provisions

A loan service fee is collected•at the time of loan disburse-ment;Interest is charged at a rate of•1 percent higher than the CCCborrowing interest rate;Honey pledged as collat-•eral for a loan must be from

34

FACT SHEETHoney MALs and LDPs February 2013

eligible floral sources and must be in containers that meet the type, size, cleanli-ness, strength, damage and fill requirements defined by regulations published by CCC in the Federal Register;Pre-loan inspections are•required to ensure that honey inventory exists in approved storage containers and is of approximate certified weight.

Loan Deficiency Payment (LDP) Provisions

Producers who are eligible for a nonrecourse MAL, may choose to receive a LDP in lieu of a MAL. The LDP rate equals the amount by which the loan rate where the commodity is stored exceeds the effective repayment rate for the crop of honey.


Further information on this and other FSA programs is available from local USDA Service Centers or on the FSA website at www.fsa.usda.gov. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

prohibits discrimination in all of its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where ap-plicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, political beliefs, genetic information, repri-sal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communica-tion of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).

To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Stop 9410, Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call toll-free at (866) 632-9992 (English) or (800) 877-8339 (TDD) or (866) 377-8642 (English Federal-relay) or (800) 845-6136 (Spanish Federal-relay).


Page 235

Farming and ranching is a 24/7 industry...Now you can receive timely FSA farm

program information when it’s convenient

Up-to-the-minute federal farm program information is now available direct to

your home or farm offi ce email account or smartphone. FSA’s GovDelivery electronic

news service is free and convenient.Ask how you can subscribe to

GovDelivery today.

Farm Program News You Need... Available When You Need It...

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender.

Or, subscribe online at:http://www.fsa.usda.gov/subscribe

36


Page 1

January 2013

Direct and Counter-Cyclical Payment Program (DCP) - 2013

Overview

The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, enacted on Jan. 2, 2013, amends the Food, Conserva-tion, and Energy Act of 2008 and provides for a one-year extension of the Direct and Counter-Cyclical (DCP) program. To be eligible for direct and counter-cyclical pay-ments, producers must enroll their farms in DCP on or before Aug. 2, 2013.

There are two types of DCP payments: direct payments and counter-cyclical payments. Both are calculated using the base acres and payment yields established for the farm. DCP is administered by the U.S. Department of Agri-culture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA). Regulations covering the provisions for DCP appear at 7 CFR Part 1412.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for DCP, owners, operators, landlords, tenants or sharecroppers must:

Share in the risk of produc-•ing a crop on base acres ona farm enrolled in DCP, andbe entitled to share in thecrop available for marketingfrom the base acres or wouldhave shared had a crop beenproduced;Annually report the use of the•farm’s cropland acreage;Comply with highly erodible•land conservation and wetlandconservation requirements onall of their land;Comply with average adjusted•gross income limitation provi-

sions;Meet requirements to be•considered actively engagedin farming;Complywithplantingflexibil-•ity requirements;Use the base acres for agricul-•tural or related activities and;Protect all base acres from•erosion, including providingsufficientcoverasdeterminednecessary by the county FSAcommittee, and controllingweeds.

Eligible Commodities

Base acres and payment yields are established for the following com-modities:

Wheat;•Corn;•Grain sorghum, including dual•purpose varieties that can beharvested as grain;Barley;•Oats;•Upland cotton;•Long grain rice and medium•grain rice (which includes shortgrain rice), excluding wild rice;Soybeans;•Canola,crambe,flaxseed,mus-•tardseed,rapeseed,safflower,sesameseedandsunflowerseed,including oil and non-oil variet-ies, or any oilseed designated bythe USDA secretary;Peanuts and ;•Dry peas, lentils, small chick-•peas (Garbanzo bean, Desi), andlarge chickpeas (Garbanzo bean,Kabuli).

Farms with 10 or less base acres are not eligible for DCP payments, except for farms whose owners are

socially disadvantaged or limited resource farmers or ranchers.

DCP Election and Enrollment — 2013

The sign-up period to enroll begins on Feb. 19, 2013 and ends on Aug. 2, 2013.

All producers may choose to enroll in either DCP or Average Crop Rev-enue Election (ACRE) for the 2013 crop year. This means that producers who enrolled in ACRE for 2012 may elect to enroll in DCP in 2013, or vice versa.

Maximum Payment Amounts

Direct payments are limited to $40,000 per person or entity and counter-cyclical payments are limited to $65,000 per person or entity. The limitation is applied by attributing both the amounts received directly by entities and persons, and indirect amounts received through entities.

Adjusted Gross Income (AGI)

Persons or legal entities whose aver-age non-farm AGI exceeds $500,000 are not eligible for direct or counter-cyclical payments.

Persons or legal entities whose aver-age farm AGI exceeds $750,000 are not eligible for direct payments.

Persons or legal entities whose aver-age total AGI exceeds $1,000,000 are not eligible for direct payments.

Direct Payments

Direct payment rates for the eligible DCP commodities are as follows:

37

FACT SHEETDirect and Counter-Cyclical Payments January 2013

Wheat: $0.52 per bushel;•Corn: $0.28 per bushel;•Grain sorghum: $0.35 per•bushel;Barley: $0.24 per bushel;•Oats: $0.024 per bushel;•Upland cotton: $0.0667 per•pound;Rice, long grain: $2.35 per hun-•dredweight;Rice, medium/short grain: $2.35•per hundredweight;Soybeans: $0.44 per bushel;•

Other oilseeds: $0.80 per hun-•dredweight;Peanuts: $36 per ton.•

For each commodity, the total direct payment for producers on a farm is determined by multiplying 85 percent of the farm’s base acreage multiplied by the farm’s direct pay-ment yield multiplied by the direct payment rate.

Advance direct payments are not authorized and will not be issued.

The following is an example for corn:

Corn base acres:

100 acres x 85 percent = 85 payment acres x 110 bushels direct payment yield x $0.28 per bushel direct payment rate = $2,618 direct payment

Direct payments are not based on producers’ current plantings of covered commodities or peanuts, but instead are calculated using the base acres and payment yields established for covered commodities and peanuts on the farm.

Counter-cyclical Payments

In addition to direct payments,

counter-cyclical payments are autho-rized, which provide income support as part of a “safety net” in the event of low crop prices. Counter-cyclical payments for a commodity are only issued if the effective price for a commodity is below the target price for the commodity. Target prices for each commodity are as follows:

Crop 2013 Target Price

Barley $2.63/buChickpeas, large (Garbanzo bean, Kabuli)

$12.81/cwt

Chickpeas, small (Garbanzo bean, Desi

$10.36/cwt

Corn $2.63/buDry Peas $8.32/cwtGrain Sorghum $2.63/buLentils $12.81/cwtOats $1.79/buOther Oilseeds $12.68/cwtPeanuts $495/tonRice, long grain $10.50/cwtRice, medium/short grain

$10.50/cwt

Soybeans $6.00/buUpland Cotton $0.7125/lbWheat $4.17/bu

The counter-cyclical payment rate is the amount by which the target price of each commodity exceeds its effective price. The effective price for each commodity equals the direct payment rate plus the higher of:

The national average market•price received by producersduring the marketing year asdetermined by the USDA Sec-retary (see Example A) or;The national loan rate for the•commodity (see Example B).

Example A:

If the 2013 national average mar-ket price for soybeans is $11.21 per bushel:

$0.44 direct payment rate + $11.21 average market price*= $11.65 effective price

(*Average market price is used since it is higher than the 2013 national loan rate of $5.00/bu)

$6.00 target price -$11.65 effective price = $0.00 counter-cyclical payment rate because the effective price is above the target price

Example B:

If the 2013 national average market price for corn is $1.90 per bushel:

$0.28 direct payment rate+$1.95 national loan rate*= $2.23 effective price

(*National loan rate of $1.95/bu is used since it is higher than the average market price)

$2.63 target price$2.23 effective price= $0.40 counter-cyclical payment rate

For each commodity, the total counter-cyclical payment for producers on a farm is determined by multiplying 85 percent of the farm’s commodity base acres multiplied by the farm’s commod-ity counter-cyclical payment yield multiplied by the counter-cyclical payment rate.

Page 238

2013 Scheduled Timetable for DCP PaymentsMonth/Year Commodity

BarleyOats

Wheat

Dry Peas

Lentils

PeanutsRice

Upland Cotton

CornSorghumSoybeans

"Other" Oilseeds

Large Chickpeas

Small Chickpeas

Marketing Year

June 1 -May 31

July 1 -June 30

August 1 -July 31

Sept. 1 -August 31

Varies by crop

Sept.1 -August 31

Beginning October 2013

Final Direct

Final Direct

Final Direct

Final Direct

Beginning October 2014

Final CC

Final CC

Final CC for Peanuts & Upland Cotton

Final CC

Beginning December 2014

Final CC Final CC

Beginning February 2015

Final CC for Rice

1/ By statute, counter-cyclical (CC) payments for crop year 2013 can be made no earlier than October 1, 2013.

An example for 2013 soybeans (using the counter-cyclical pay-ment rate of $0.26) is:

100 base acres of soybeans85 payment acres x 30 bushels per acre counter-cyclical payment yieldx $0.26 per bushel counter-cycli-cal payment rate= $663 counter-cyclical payment

Timing of Payments

For 2013, no advance direct or partial CC payments are autho-rized.

Producers will receive the entire 2013 direct payment in Oct. 2013.

Final counter-cyclical payments are made beginning October 2014, or as soon as practicable thereaf-ter, after the end of the marketing year for the crop.

Planting Flexibility Provisions

Producers who participate in DCP may plant cropland in excess of the total base acreage on the farm

to any commodity. However, producers are subject to certain restrictions on the planting of wild rice, fruits and vegetables (other than mung beans and pulse crops). Information on wild rice, fruits and vegetable restrictions is con-tained in the FSA fact sheet “Direct and Counter-cyclical Pay-ment Program: Wild Rice, Fruit, and Vegetable Provisions.” A 2013 fact sheet is available on FSA’s website at www.fsa.usda.gov;clickon“findFSAfactsheets, or follow this link: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/newsReleases?area=newsroom&subject=landing&topic=pfs&newstype=prfactsheet&type=detail&item=pf_20130123_insup_en_acredcp.html


Further information on DCP is availableatlocalFSAofficesoron FSA’s DCP website at: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/dcp.

he U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all of its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where ap-plicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, political beliefs, genetic information, repri-sal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communica-tion of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).

To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Stop 9410, Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call toll-free at (866) 632-9992 (English) or (800) 877-8339 (TDD) or (866) 377-8642 (English Federal-relay) or (800) 845-6136 (Spanish Federal-relay).


FACT SHEETDirect and Counter-Cyclical Payments January 2013

Page 339

Why livestock eat what they eat


Beth Burritt Utah State University Wildland Resources Department

Currently, Beth is the Rangeland Resources Extension Agent for Box Elder, Cache and Rich Counties. For 25 years, she conducted research and extension for project that studied how learning and experience affects the diet selection of livestock. She has a BS in Animal Science and a MS in Ruminant Nutrition.


Why do livestock eat certain foods? Livestock select their diets based on experience, feedback from nutrients and toxins, and variety. Livestock producers can influence what animals eat on rangeland if they understand the principles of livestock behavior. Understanding behavior can improve land management and profitability. Livestock can balance their own diets, even in the feedlot. They can be taught to eat sagebrush, many weeds, and graze away from the stream. Dietary preference is one reason you should consider raising your own replacement females. Livestock learn every day. Would you like to be part of that process?

40

Business Doing Direct Marketing


Russ Kohler Heber Valley Cheese - Kohler Creamery

Heber Valley Artisan Cheese is a brand new company. Our family-owned business and sparkling new creamery is located on our 4th-generation dairy farm, in the high-mountain Heber Valley in Utah. We're excited to bring the very finest fresh and aged artisan cheese to you.


To carry his third-generation family farm into the fourth, dairyman Grant Kohler had two choices: move the dairy from its roots in the Heber Valley and massively increase production, or build a niche market selling artisan cheese and raw milk. Russ will talk about the decision to define and find their unique market niche, the challenges faced and the key to their success.

41

Crop Insurance and Pooling Livestock


Hernan A. Tejeda Utah State University

Hernan A. Tejeda is a Post-Doc in the Applied Economics Department at Utah State University, where he specializes in price risk analysis of agricultural commodity markets for crops and livestock - doing both research and extension work. He received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the Pontificia Catholic University of Chile in 1990, a MBA from the University of Notre Dame in 2000, and a Ph.D. in Economics, with emphasis in Agricultural Commodity Markets, from North Carolina State University in 2010.


Hernan will discuss the advantages of crop insurance and the pooling of livestock. Specific revenue protection examples will be presented along with a variety of pooling options.

42

Turning Sage Brush and Weeds into a Management Intensive Grazing System


Matt Palmer Utah State University Extension

Matt Palmer has been a Utah State University Agriculture Extension Agent for 12 years. He has a bachelor’s degree in Bio-Veterinary Science and a master’s degree in Animal Management from Utah State University. He is the manager of JDP Ranch and Pleasant Valley Beef LLC, which markets grass-fed all natural beef from his family ranch.


Over the past 30 years the JDP Ranch watched their 300 acre dry pastures deteriorate to low producing sagebrush and annual weeds. This was due to years of season long grazing with sheep. To improve the carrying capacity of these pastures the Ranch conducted a pastureland restoration project. Through a combination of herbicides, anchor chains, seeding, water system development and fence construction, the 300 acre pasture went from producing about 200 lbs. of forage/acre to producing well over 700 lb of forage/acre in a two year period. This project was funded through the UDAF Grazing Improvement Program (GIP) and Division of Wildlife Resources.

51

Farm to Fork - Create Great Value - Set Your Own Price


Brandon Foote Redmond Heritage Farms, LLC

Brandon Foote was born and raised in Sevier County. He graduated from Snow College and Utah State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and a Master’s Degree in Human Resource Management. He currently works for Redmond, Inc. and spends most of his time in product and business development, marketing and sales.

Brandon spent his life working in agriculture, mainly in beef and crop production. He was approached by Redmond Inc. in 2003 to begin a vertically integrated, pasture-based farm, specializing in the production of raw milk, eggs, cheese, beef and pork. Redmond Heritage Farms products are directly marketed through 3 Real Foods Market, farm-owned stores in St. George, Heber City, Orem and soon, Salt Lake City.


Vertical Integration - Agriculture focuses significantly on producing inputs that are to be used for other products by other business. Farmers have the ability, due to customers' increasing desire to obtain locally produced, high quality food, to create high quality products and market those products at retail prices. Items we'll cover:

A. Marketing 1. Product differentiation - what can you do well that few others can do?2. What is your story?3. Creating emotional attachment to products4. Who is your customer? Find customers that value what you produce5. The power of Social Media (everyone now has a voice and a cheap

way to offer their story)B. Redmond Heritage Farms and Real Foods Market

1. How we differentiate our products - what we do well2. What is our story?3. How do we create emotional attachment with our customers4. How we use Social Media5. Who is our customer?6. Create value and offer it to those who regard it highly

Open Session

58

Farm Succession


Kip Larsen Farm/Ranch Management Instructor, Snow College Richfield

Kip Larsen was raised on a family sheep and cattle ranch near Ephraim Utah. He has partnered with his brothers as owners/operators of K Larsen Farms. Mr. Larsen is a graduate of Snow College and the school of accountancy at Utah State University. For the past 3 year, Mr. Larsen has worked with South Central Utah farmers as an instructor for Farm/Ranch Management through Snow College. He and his wife Danni live with their son in Ephraim.


This session is about getting a farm succession plan started.

59

Agricultural Outlook Information


Dillon Feuz Utah State University, Department of Applied Economic

Dillon Feuz has been an agricultural economics professor at the Utah State University since 2006. His primary focus areas are in Livestock Marketing, and Farm & Ranch Management. He received his B.S. in Agribusiness in 1984 and his M.S. in Agricultural Economics in 1986 from the University of Wyoming and he received his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics in 1990 from Colorado State University. He spent six years at South Dakota State University teaching marketing and conducting research on livestock production and marketing issues. He then worked for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for ten years analyzing various cattle management and marketing strategies and evaluating consumer’s willingness-to-pay for flavor preferences for beef steaks. Dillon was raised on a cattle ranch in western Wyoming.


Feeder cattle markets are volatile. This presentation will compare using the futures market, options market of LRP feeder cattle insurance to help manage the volatility in feeder cattle prices. Dillon will review the cattle, sheep, corn, dairy and hay markets.

60

The Latest and Greatest in Forage Production


Earl Creech Utah State University

Earl Creech is an Assistant Professor and Extension Agronomist in the Department of Plants, Soils, and Climate at Utah State University, a position he has held since 2010. Earl grew up on a family livestock and crop production farm near Logan, Utah and received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Utah State University before acquiring his Ph.D. from Purdue University. Upon graduating from Purdue, he was an Assistant Professor and Extension Weed Specialist at the University of Nevada, Reno for three years before accepting his current position at Utah State University.

In his research and Extension efforts at Utah State University, Earl works to address critical agronomic issues facing farmers and ranchers in Utah and throughout the West. He has been invited to teach various aspects of field crop and forage production at field days, workshops, conferences, and short courses across the West. He has also written numerous publications for scientific and Extension audiences.


We will discuss the most recent Utah State University research results in forage crops, including alfalfa, corn, small grains, teff, soybean, and sorghum.

74

Using Social Media to Increase Your Sales


Paul Hill Utah State University Extension

Paul Hill is an Assistant Professor at Utah State University Extension in Washington County. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Dixie State College and an M.B.A. from Southern Utah University. His interests of research and study include leadership and collaboration using new technologies, brand management, and social media marketing. Paul enjoys public speaking, web development, blogging, canyoneering, reading and of course 4-H! He and his wife have two sons and currently reside in Hurricane, Utah.

Nate Palmer CentraCom Interactive

Nate Palmer is the Vice President, Marketing for CentraCom Interactive. CentraCom is the telecommunications provider for Sanpete, Sevier and Juab Counties and also serves southern Utah County, Wendover, Bear Lake and Dugway. He develops and implements marketing strategies to acquire new subscribers to Telephone, Internet and Cable TV services. He also creates and produces advertising for print, video and web mediums and manages a local origination cable TV channel including creating original television shows and working with other content providers to make a viably competitive local channel. Currently Nate is the owner of Pleasant Valley Beef. Pleasant Valley Beef markets natural beef raised on his family ranch, direct to consumer throughout Utah and surrounding states. He also is expanding his operation by developing partnerships with beef producers to market their beef through his distribution channels.


As an agricultural producer you can influence the agricultural movement by using social media platforms to educate consumers, dispel myths, and tell your farm story. It’s no secret that there’s a huge disconnect between farmers and consumers. It’s now your time to take a seat at the table and answer the questions consumers have about where their food comes from. We’ll teach you how to devise your own social media strategy to share your farm story, market your unique products, and build genuine relationships with consumers so they’ll buy your stuff!

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To view this presentation, please go to:

http://goo.gl/W6wv5

Or

The QR code to the presentation

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Connecting Supply and Demand Fluctuations to Prices


Dillon Feuz Utah State University, Department of Applied Economic

Dillon Feuz has been an agricultural economics professor at the Utah State University since 2006. His primary focus areas are in Livestock Marketing, and Farm & Ranch Management. He received his B.S. in Agribusiness in 1984 and his M.S. in Agricultural Economics in 1986 from the University of Wyoming and he received his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics in 1990 from Colorado State University. He spent six years at South Dakota State University teaching marketing and conducting research on livestock production and marketing issues. He then worked for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for ten years analyzing various cattle management and marketing strategies and evaluating consumer’s willingness-to-pay for flavor preferences for beef steaks. Dillon was raised on a cattle ranch in western Wyoming.


Dillon will expand on price fluctuation in agricultural markets by explaining the connections between supply and demand and their relationship to commodity prices.

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Sources of Market, Price, and other Agricultural information on the Web Dillon Feuz

Applied Economics Utah State University

Cattle and Beef Market Price information and analysis http://cattlemarketanalysis.org/index.html

Utah State University, Applied Economics, Extension Home Page https://apecextension.usu.edu/

USDA – Agricultural Marketing Service http://www.ams.usda.gov

USDA – National Agricultural Statistics Service http://www.nass.usda.gov

USDA – Risk Management Agency http://www.rma.usda.gov/

USDA – Economics, Statistics, and Market Information System http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/homepage.do

Utah Department of Agriculture and Food http://ag.utah.gov

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/agricultural/

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http://cattlemarketanalysis.org/index.html

https://apecextension.usu.edu/

http://www.ams.usda.gov/

http://www.nass.usda.gov/

http://www.rma.usda.gov/

http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/homepage.do

http://ag.utah.gov/

http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/agricultural/

Talking Turkey


Kent Christensen Moroni Feed Company

Kent is a Utah State University Graduate in Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Business. He has 30 years agriculture production experience in poultry and beef production. He worked for 4 years as the Farm Manager for the Utah State University Turkey Research Farm and 6 years as Live Production Vice President for Moroni Feed Company.


Turkey Business in Utah:

Who can grow turkeys?

Requirements to grow turkeys

How are turkeys, feed, and finished product bought and sold.

Why grow turkeys?

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Game Birds Operation


Keith Hicken Pleasant Valley Hunting Preserve

Keith and Nerissa Hicken have three children. Keith served an LDS mission in the Southern Philippines. He has farmed all his life and bought his own farm in a small farming community called Pleasant Valley, Utah at the age of 22. In the early 1980’s, his father and he almost went broke running a dairy with high interest rates, high commodity prices and poor milk prices. He looked for something else to do to supplement his income. He finally found it and has been raising and releasing pheasants for sportsmen since 1987.


Keith will be speaking about some options for farmers and ranchers, as well as other topics.

1. Some of his history

2. Agricultural Diversification

3. Sod Operations

4. Pheasant Operations

5. Questions/Answers

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How will the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011 affect your on-farm food processing?


Karin Allen, PhD Utah State University

Karin Allen is the USU Extension Food Quality & Entrepreneurship Specialist. The Food Quality & Entrepreneurship Program provides assistance to start-ups and existing food companies of all sizes, including regulatory information, nutrition facts, formulation assistance, and packaging and ingredient solutions.


This presentation explains the proposed rule issued by the FDA in January 2013, including the expanded definition of “harvesting,” the proposed definitions of “small” and “very-small” businesses, and the on-farm processing activities identified as low-risk. The potential impact, facility registration requirements, and record keeping requirements will be discussed. The public comment period on this proposed rule is open through May 2013, so participants will have ample time to voice concerns to the FDA prior to the issuance of a final rule.

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How will the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011

affect your on-farm food processing?

Below are excerpts of the proposed rule issued by the FDA in the Federal Register (January 2013).

These sections were chosen because they are most likely to apply to farms that are processing food

products, and may affect your current on-farm activities. If you would like to review the proposed

rule in more detail, it can be downloaded as a .pdf file (176 pages, 1.06MB) here:

www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FDA-2011-N-0920-0001

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration 21 CFR Parts 1, 16, 106, 110, 114, 117,120, 123, 129, 179, and 211 [Docket No. FDA–2011–N–0920] RIN 0910–AG36 Current Good Manufacturing Practice and Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing to amend its regulation for Current Good

Manufacturing Practice In Manufacturing, Packing, or Holding Human Food (CGMPs) to modernize it and to add

requirements for domestic and foreign facilities that are required to register under the Federal Food, Drug, and

Cosmetic Act (the FD&C Act) to establish and implement hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls for

human food. FDA also is proposing to revise certain definitions in FDA’s current regulation for Registration of Food

Facilities to clarify the scope of the exemption from registration requirements provided by the FD&C Act for

‘‘farms.’’ FDA is taking this action as part of its announced initiative to revisit the CGMPs since they were last

revised in 1986 and to implement new statutory provisions in the FD&C Act. The proposed rule is intended to build a

food safety system for the future that makes modern, science-, and risk-based preventive controls the norm across all

sectors of the food system.

DATES: Submit either electronic or written comments on the proposed rule by May 16, 2013.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. FDA–2011–N–0920 and/or RIN 0910–AG36,

by any of the following methods.

Electronic Submissions

Submit electronic comments in the following way:

Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.

Written Submissions

Submit written submissions in the following ways:

FAX: 301–827–6870.

Mail/Hand delivery/Courier (for paper or CD–ROM submissions):

Division of Dockets Management (HFA–305)

Food and Drug Administration

5630 Fishers Lane, rm. 1061

Rockville, MD 20852.

Instructions: All submissions received must include the Agency name and Docket No. for this rulemaking. All

comments received may be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information

provided.

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Executive Summary

Purpose and Coverage of the Proposed Rule

The proposed rule would revise FDA’s current good manufacturing practice (CGMP) regulations regarding

the manufacturing, processing, packing, or holding of human food in two fundamental ways. First, it would add new

preventive controls provisions as required by the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)…Second, the

proposed rule would update, revise, or otherwise clarify certain requirements of our CGMP regulations, which were

last updated in 1986. In addition, this proposed rule would clarify the scope of the exemption for ‘‘farms’’ in FDA’s

current food facility registration regulations and make corresponding clarifications to FDA’s current regulations for

the establishment, maintenance, and availability of records. These clarifications would affect who would be subject to

the current regulations for registration and recordkeeping as well as the new preventive controls requirements that

would be established by this proposed rule…

Summary of the Major Provisions of the Proposed Rule

The proposed rule would implement the requirements of FSMA for covered facilities to establish and

implement a

food safety system that includes a hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls. Specifically, the proposed rule

would establish requirements for:

A written food safety plan;

Hazard analysis;

Preventive controls for hazards that are reasonably likely to occur;

Monitoring;

Corrective actions;

Verification; and

Associated records.

… The proposed rule would also establish a series of exemptions (including modified requirements in some cases)

from the requirements for hazard analysis and preventive controls. Facilities that manufacture, process, pack or hold

food and that are required to register with FDA under section 415 of the FD&C Act would be required to comply with

the proposed regulation unless they are covered by an exemption. The table immediately below summarizes these

proposed exemptions in general terms.

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VIII. Rulemaking Required by Section 103(c) of FSMA: On-Farm Activities

F. Impact of Proposed Revisions to the Definitions in 21 CFR Part 1

6. Summary of Examples of the Impact of the Proposed Revisions to the Definitions in 21 CFR Part 1 on a Farm or

Farm Mixed-Type Facility

For the convenience of the reader, Table 5 summarizes the examples discussed in sections VIII.F.2 through VIII.F.5 of this document.

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H. Results of the Qualitative Risk Assessment

In this section, we report the results of the section 103(c)(1)(C) draft RA*, arranged in three lists. References

to ‘‘farms’’ in these lists should be understood to include farm mixed-type facilities. The lists are shaped by the

proposed definitions for harvesting, manufacturing/processing, packing, or holding in the section 415 registration

regulations (discussed in section VIII.E of this document), the organizing principles (discussed in section VIII.D of

this document) that form the basis for those proposed definitions, and the examples of activity classifications

(discussed in section VIII.F of this document). As discussed in section VIII.E of this document, the same activity may

be classified differently (among the categories of harvesting, manufacturing/ processing, packing, or holding)

depending on whether the food being operated upon is a RAC and whether the RAC was grown or raised on the farm

or farm mixed-type facility performing the activity or a farm under the same ownership. We request comment on the

lists in sections VIII.H.1 through VIII.H.3.

1. List of Low-Risk On-Farm Packing and Holding Activity/Food Combinations When Conducted on Food Not

Grown, Raised, or Consumed on That Farm or Another Farm Under the Same Ownership

The section 103(c)(1)(C) draft RA identified the following low-risk packing and holding activity/food combinations

when conducted on a farm on food not grown, raised, or consumed on that farm or another farm under the same

ownership—i.e., packing or re-packing (including weighing or conveying incidental to packing or re-packing);

sorting, culling, or grading incidental to packing or storing; and storing (ambient, cold and controlled atmosphere) of:

Hard candy, fudge, taffy, and toffee;

Cocoa products;

Cocoa beans and coffee beans (raw or roasted);

Grains and grain products;

Honey (raw and pasteurized);

Intact fruits and vegetables;

Jams, jellies and preserves;

Maple sap for syrup and maple syrup;

Peanuts and tree nuts;

Soft drinks and carbonated water; and

Sugar beets, sugarcane, and sugar.

2. List of Low-Risk On-Farm Manufacturing/Processing Activity/ Food Combinations When Conducted on the

Farm’s Own Raw Agricultural Commodities for Distribution Into Commerce

The section 103(c)(1)(C) draft RA identified the following low-risk manufacturing/processing activity/food

combinations when conducted on a farm on the farm’s own RACs for distribution into commerce:

Artificial ripening of intact fruits and vegetables;

Boiling/evaporation of maple sap to make maple syrup;

Chopping raw peanuts and raw tree nuts;

Coating (with coatings other than wax, oil, or resin used for the purpose of storage or transportation) intact

fruits and vegetables (e.g., caramel apples) and raw peanuts and raw tree nuts (e.g., adding seasonings);

Drying/dehydrating intact fruits and vegetables (without the addition of sulfites) where the drying creates a

distinct commodity (e.g., drying fruits or herbs);

Extracting oil from grains;

Grinding/milling/cracking/crushing grains (e.g., making grain products such as corn meal) and raw peanuts

or raw tree nuts (e.g., making ground peanuts);

Making jams, jellies and preserves from acid foods (e.g., acid fruits);

Making sugar from sugarcane and sugar beets; and

Salting raw peanuts and raw tree nuts.

3. List of Low-Risk On-Farm Manufacturing/Processing Activity/ Food Combinations When Conducted on

Food Other Than the Farm’s Own Raw Agricultural Commodities, for Distribution Into Commerce

The section 103(c)(1)(C) draft RA identified the following low-risk manufacturing/processing activity/food

combinations when conducted on a farm on food other than the farm’s own RACs, for distribution into commerce.

Artificial ripening of intact fruits and vegetables;

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Chopping peanuts and tree nuts;

Coating (with coatings other than wax, oil, or resin used for the purpose of storage or transportation) intact

fruits and vegetables (e.g., caramel apples) and peanuts and tree nuts (e.g., adding seasonings);

Cooling intact fruits and vegetables using cold air;

Drying/dehydrating (whether for storage/transport or for creating a distinct commodity) intact fruits and

vegetables (without sulfiting), cocoa beans, coffee beans, grains and grain products, and peanuts and tree

nuts;

Extracting oils from grains (e.g., corn, oilseeds, soybeans);

Fermenting cocoa beans and coffee beans;

Grinding/milling/cracking/crushing cocoa beans, coffee beans, grains (e.g., making grain products such as

corn meal), and peanuts and tree nuts (e.g., making ground peanuts);

Labeling (including stickering) hard candy, cocoa beans, cocoa products from roasted cocoa beans (other

than milk chocolate), coffee beans, intact fruits and vegetables, grain and grain products (other than those

containing wheat in a form that would not be

recognized as containing wheat without a label declaration), honey, jams/jellies/preserves, maple sap, maple

syrup, intact single-ingredient peanuts or tree nuts (shelled and unshelled), soft drinks and carbonated

beverages, sugar beets, sugarcane, and sugar;

Making hard candy, fudge, taffy, and toffee;

Making cocoa products from roasted cocoa beans;

Making honey;

Making jams, jellies and preserves from acid foods (e.g., acid fruits);

Making maple syrup;

Making soft drinks and carbonated water;

Making sugar from sugar beets and sugarcane;

Mixing cocoa beans, coffee beans, intact fruits and vegetables, grain and grain products, honey, maple sap

and maple syrup, and peanuts and tree nuts;

Packaging hard candy, fudge, taffy, and toffee; cocoa beans; cocoa products; coffee beans; intact fruits and

vegetables (other than modified atmosphere or vacuum packaging); grain and grain products; honey; jams,

jellies and preserves; maple syrup; peanuts and

tree nuts (including modified atmosphere or vacuum packaging); soft drinks and carbonated water; and sugar

beets, sugarcane, and sugar;

Salting peanuts and tree nuts;

Shelling/hulling cocoa beans (i.e., winnowing), intact fruits and vegetables (e.g., dried beans and peas), and

peanuts and tree nuts; Sifting grains and grain products;

Sorting, culling and grading (other than when incidental to packing or storage) hard candy, fudge, taffy, and

toffee; cocoa beans; cocoa products; coffee beans; intact fruits and vegetables; grain and grain products;

honey; jams, jellies and preserves; maple sap; maple syrup; peanuts and tree nuts; soft drinks and carbonated

water; and sugar beets and sugarcane;

Treating cocoa beans, coffee beans, intact fruits and vegetables, grain and grain products, and peanuts and

tree nuts against pests (other than during growing) (e.g., fumigation); and

Waxing (wax, oil, or resin used for the purpose of storage or transportation) intact fruits and vegetables.

I. Tentative Conclusions Regarding On-Farm Low-Risk Activity/Food Combinations Under Section 418 of the FD&C

Act

Based on the results of the section 103(c)(1)(C) draft RA regarding on-farm low-risk activity/food

combinations, we are proposing in § 117.5(g) and (h) to exempt farm mixed-type facilities that are small or very small

businesses (as defined in proposed § 117.3) from requirements under section 418 of the FD&C Act if the only

activities subject to section 418 that the business conducts are low-risk activity/food combinations.

*If you are interested in reading the Risk Assessment conducted for the FDA, it can be

downloaded here as a .pdf file (95 pages, 0.66MB):

www.fda.gov/Downloads/Food/ScienceResearch/ResearchAreas/RiskAssessmentSafetyAssessment/UCM334110.pdf

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Common Vitamin and Mineral Deficiencies and How They Affect Production in Cattle of the Intermountain West


Jeffery O. Hall, D.V.M., Ph.D., Diplomat A.B.V.T. Utah State University, Utah Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory

Dr. Jeffery Hall is a Full Professor at Utah State University, College of Agriculture, in the Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences Department. He also holds an appointment in the Utah Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (UVDL), as the Head of Diagnostic Toxicology. Dr. Hall has B.S. in Agriculture Economics – Farm and Ranch Management and a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Oklahoma State University. He completed an internship, residency, and a Ph.D. in investigational and forensic veterinary toxicology from the University of Illinois. He is a licensed Veterinarian and Board Certified in Veterinary Toxicology. His ongoing research interests include natural toxins and mineral toxicology/deficiency. He is actively involved with the research at the USDA Poisonous Plant Research Laboratory and the Utah State University Antiviral Institute as the pharmakokineticist/toxicokineticist. In his role as the toxicologist at the UVDL, for the past 16 years, he analyzed thousands of forage, diet, tissue, and bodily fluid samples, nationwide, for mineral content in order to determine deficiencies and poisonings.

Trivia: Dr. Hall comes from a cow-calf operation in Cement, Oklahoma. He has coached the Utah State University Rodeo Team for the past 16 years and was a past professional competitor in bareback riding (7 years), saddle bronc riding (5 years) and bull riding (19 years).


Dr. Hall will discuss common deficiencies, health effects of the deficiencies, how to test for deficiencies, how the deficiencies influence production/profitability, and means of correcting the deficiencies

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Diagnosing Common Vitamin and Mineral Deficiencies

Jeffery O. Hall, D.V.M., Ph.D., Diplomat A.B.V.T.

Utah Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory

Department of Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences

Utah State University

Introduction

Many minerals and vitamins have been

proven in research studies to be essential for optimal

growth, physiologic function, and productivity in

animals. Data from the analytical section of the Utah

Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory would indicate a

significant increase in incidence of vitamin and

mineral deficiencies during 2009 and 2010. Much of

this increase appears to be associated with producers

decreasing or completely stopping the practice of

vitamin-mineral supplementation. Based on

interaction with producers, common discussions are

of extremely high fuel, hay, and other production

factors in the fall of 2008, which resulted in searches

for ways to cut input costs. A common finding with

many of the diagnosed deficiencies is a lack of

vitamin-mineral supplementation either long term or

due to cost cutting.

Increasing incidence of adverse neonatal

health effects, due to vitamin or mineral deficiencies,

were observed in 2009, but further increases are

occurring in 2010. This continued increase is likely

due to some herds which stopped supplementation in

the Fall of 2008 having body reserves that allowed

for healthy calves in the Spring of 2009. But

continued lack of supplementation has resulted in

depletion of the body reserves and poor calf health in

the Spring of 2010.

This paper is directed at the health effect of

common vitamin and mineral deficiencies and

provides a summarization of the most commonly

analyzed tissues and fluids that are used for

diagnosing specific deficiencies. The paper also

touches on immune system effects and appropriate

supplementation.

Deficiency Diagnoses

Historically, testing for deficiencies has

been performed on diets and/or dietary components

to ensure “adequate” concentrations in the diet.

However, general mineral analysis does not identify

the chemical forms of these minerals, which can

dramatically alter their bioavailability and utilization.

In addition, certain dietary factors can alter

bioavailability of certain vitamins as well.

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Although not possible for some of the

minerals, the most specific means of diagnosing a

mineral deficiency is by testing animals for unique

functional deficits or deficiencies of specific mineral

containing proteins or enzymes. This type of testing

is often impractical from a field perspective, due to

individual test costs or rigorous sample handling

requirements. But, when possible, this type of testing

eliminates the need to know the specific molecular

characteristics of a dietary mineral and the potential

for competitive interactions of antagonistic minerals

for absorption/utilization. For minerals that do not

have identified physiologic indices for which testing

can be performed, direct quantification from animal

tissues or serum may provide a reliable indication of

the overall mineral status of the animal or group.

Testing of adequacy of fat soluble vitamins

is commonly achieved by testing serum or liver

tissue. It is essential that serum be separated from the

red blood cells soon after collection. In addition,

serum should be maintained frozen and protected

from sun light while being shipped to the testing

laboratory.

Vitamin and mineral deficiencies can be

suggestively diagnosed by the development of

clinical disease or by post-mortem identification of

tissue lesions. But, proof of deficiencies often

requires analytical verification since most do not

have very unique clinical signs or lesions. In some

instances, circumstantial proof of a deficiency can be

provided by positive response to supplementation of

a suspected deficient vitamins or minerals. But,

positive response may have nothing to do with the

supplementation and may be just a time responsive

correction of some other clinical condition.

An individual vitamin or mineral may have

multiple means of measurement for identification of

deficiencies, but most have one that is more specific

than the others. For example, dietary concentrations

may or may not be reflective of the amount that is

bioavailable. Or, an individual tissue concentration

may or may not reflect functional availability at the

target or functional site.

The age of the animal being tested also is

important for proper interpretation of status. For

example, feti accumulate some minerals at different

rates during gestation, necessitating adequate aging

of the fetus for interpretation. In addition, some

minerals, for which little is provided in milk,

accumulate at higher concentrations during gestation

in order to provide neonates with adequate body

reserves for survival until they begin foraging. This

is especially prevalent with copper, iron, selenium,

and zinc. Thus, the “normal range” for these

minerals in body storage tissues would be higher in

early neonates than in an adult animal. One must be

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careful to make sure that the testing laboratory is

interpreting the results based on the age of the

animals tested, as some laboratories try to interpret

all samples as if they were from adult animals.

When individual animals are tested, the

prior health status must be considered in interpreting

vitamin and mineral concentration of tissues.

Disease states can shift mineral from tissues to serum

or serum to tissues. For example, diarrhea can result

in significant loss of sodium, potassium, and calcium

from the body. Or, acidosis will cause electrolyte

shifts between tissues and circulating blood. It is

known that infectious disease, stress, fever, endocrine

dysfunction, and trauma can alter both tissue and

circulating serum/blood concentrations of certain

minerals and electrolytes. Thus, evaluation of

multiple animals is much more reflective of mineral

status within a group than testing individual animals

that are ill or have died from other disease states.

Live Animal Sampling

A variety of samples are available from live

animals that can be analyzed for vitamin-mineral

content. The most common samples from live

animals are serum and whole blood. These samples

are adequate for measurement of several minerals,

but it must be recognized that some disease states, as

well as feeding times, can result in altered or

fluctuating serum concentrations. Other samples

from live animals that are occasionally used for

analyses include liver biopsies, urine, and milk. But,

since milk mineral content can vary through

lactation, vary across lactations, and be affected by

disease it is not typically used to evaluate whole

animal mineral status. Furthermore, hydration status

significantly affects urinary mineral concentrations,

rendering it a poor sample for evaluation of mineral

status. For Vitamin A and E, serum is the best

sample.

Serum should be separated from the

red/white blood cell clot within the 1 to 2 hours of

collection. If the serum sets on the clot for long

periods of time, minerals that have higher

intracellular content than serum can leach into the

serum and falsely increase the serum content.

Minerals for which this commonly occurs include

potassium and zinc. In addition, hemolysis from both

natural disease and due to collection technique can

result in increase serum concentrations of iron,

manganese, potassium, selenium, and zinc. Vitamin

A and E can begin breaking down in serum if not

separated from the red blood cells and frozen within

1-2 hours of collection. Serum for vitamin A and E

analysis should be stored such that breakdown from

sunlight exposure does not occure.

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The best type of collection tube for serum or

whole blood is royal blue-top vaccutainer tubes, as

they are trace-metal free. Typical red-top clot tubes

will give abnormally increased results for zinc

content as a zinc containing lubricant is commonly

used on the rubber stoppers. For minerals other than

zinc or vitamins A and E, serum samples from the

typical red-top clot tubes are adequate. Similarly,

serum separator tubes are typically adequate for

vitamin-mineral analyses, except for zinc.

Samples should be appropriately stored for

adequate sample preservation. Liver biopsies, urine,

and serum can be stored frozen long term or

refrigerated if mineral analysis is to be completed

within a few days. Whole blood and milk should be

refrigerated but not frozen, as cell lysis or

coagulation of solids, respectively, will result.

Post-Mortem Animal Sampling

A variety of post-mortem animal samples

are available that can be analyzed for vitamin-mineral

content. The most common tissue analyzed for

mineral content is liver, as it is the primary storage

organ for many of the essential minerals. In addition,

bone is used as the primary storage organ for

calcium, phosphorous, and magnesium. For Vitamin

A and E, liver is the tissue of choice for analysis, but

it needs to be relatively fresh. Tissue degradation

will correspondingly decrease the vitamin A and E

present.

Post mortem samples should be stored frozen until

analyzed to prevent tissue degradation. If samples

are to be analyzed within 1-2 days, they can be stored

under refrigerated conditions.

Copper Deficiency

Copper deficiency is one of the most

commonly encountered nutritional problems in

ruminants, but copper excess is also commonly

encountered, especially in sheep. In contrast, copper

deficiency is rare in non-ruminants. Clinical signs of

deficiency can present as a large array of adverse

effects. Reduced growth rates, decreased feed

conversion, abomasal ulcers, lameness, poor immune

function, sudden death, achromotrichia, and impaired

reproductive function are commonly encountered

with copper deficiency.

Cows will do all they can to ensure adequate

copper is in calves when they are born. They will

actually deplete their own body reserves to ensure

neonatal adequacy. As such, neonates diagnosed

with copper deficiencies are proof of maternal

deficiencies. With copper being an essential

component of the immune function, this maternal

deficiency likely results in poor colostrums quality

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and inadequate neonatal protection even in calves

that get adequate volumes of colostrums.

The best method for diagnosing copper

status is via analysis of liver tissue, although much

testing is performed on serum. Deficiency within a

herd will result in some animals that have low serum

copper concentrations, but serum content does not

fall until liver copper is significantly depleted. In

herds that have had livers tested and found a high

incidence of deficiency, it is not uncommon for a

high percentage of the animals to have “normal”

serum concentrations. At the Utah Veterinary

Diagnostic Laboratory, it is commonly recommended

that 10% of a herd or a minimum of 5-10 animals be

tested in order to have a higher probability of

diagnosing a copper deficiency via serum

quantification. Even with herd deficiency, low serum

copper concentrations may only be seen in 10% or

more of the individuals. Herds that may be classified

as marginally deficient based on liver testing may

have predominantly “normal” serum copper

concentrations. Thus, serum copper analysis should

be viewed as a screening method only. Another

factor that can influence diagnosis of copper

deficiency in serum is the presence of high serum

molybdenum. As the copper-sulfur-molybdenum

complex that forms is not physiologically available

for tissue use, “normal” serum copper content in the

presence of high serum molybdenum should always

be considered suspect. In addition, the form of

selenium supplementation can alter the normal range

for interpretation of serum copper status, with

selenite supplemented cows having a lowered normal

range for serum copper.

Excessive supplementation of copper in

dairy cattle is a relatively common finding at the

Utah Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. Liver

copper concentrations greater than 200 ppm are

routinely identified. But, in recent months, some

cases of deficiencies have been identified, due to

cessation of mineral supplementation programs.

The recommended adequate liver copper

concentration range in adult cattle is 25 to 100 ppm.

In comparison, late term fetal or neonatal liver should

have 65 to 150 ppm copper to be considered normal.

Manganese Deficiency

Manganese deficiency in ruminants is

associated with impaired reproductive function,

skeletal abnormalities, and less than optimal

productivity. Cystic ovaries, silent heat, reduced

conception rates, and abortions are reported

reproductive effects. Neonates that are manganese

deficient can be weak, small, and develop enlarged

joints or limb deformities. Manganese deficiencies in

beef cattle are most commonly seen in areas of highly

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alkaline soils, due to much poorer plant uptake of

manganese.

Manganese deficiency, although not

reported often, is identified routinely in dairy cattle

when tested. Of interest is the fact that most testing

of beef cattle (greater than 95%) finds normal

manganese concentrations in liver, blood, and serum,

but in these same matrices greater than 50%, 75%,

and 95%, respectively, of dairy cattle tested are

below recommended normal concentrations

(unpublished data, Utah Veterinary Diagnostic

Laboratory). This may, in part, be due to high

calcium and phosphorous content of dairy rations,

which can be antagonistic to the bioavailability of

manganese.

Of the samples available, liver is the most

indicative of whole body status, followed by whole

blood and then serum. As red blood cells have higher

manganese content than serum, hemolysis can result

in increased serum content. Since the normal serum

concentration of manganese is quite low, many

laboratories do not offer this analysis because of

inadequate sensitivity. Overall, response to

supplementation has frequently been used as a means

of verifying manganese deficiency, but it is critical

that a bioavailable form be utilized.

Selenium Deficiency

As an essential mineral, selenium is commonly

identified as deficient in ruminants, but infrequently

in dairy cattle. Selenium deficiency is also identified

in many non-ruminant species. Selenium deficiency

is associated with reduced growth rates, poor feed

efficiency, poor immune function, impaired

reproductive performance, and damage to muscle

tissues. “White muscle disease”, a necrosis and

scaring of cardiac and/or skeletal muscle, is linked to

severe selenium deficiency; although, it can be

caused by vitamin E deficiency as well.

Cows will do all they can to ensure adequate

selenium is in calves when they are born. They will

actually deplete their own body reserves to ensure

neonatal adequacy. As such, neonates diagnosed

with selenium deficiencies are proof of maternal

deficiencies. With selenium being an essential

component of the immune function, this maternal

deficiency likely results in poor colostrums quality

and inadequate neonatal protection even in calves

that get adequate volumes of colostrums.

Diagnosis of a deficiency can be made by

analysis of liver, whole blood, or serum for selenium

content or by analysis of whole blood for glutathione

peroxidase, a selenium dependent enzyme, activity.

The most specific analysis is that of whole blood

glutathione peroxidase, as it verifies true functional

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selenium status. Liver is the optimal tissue to

analyze for selenium content as it is a primary storage

tissue. With serum and whole blood, the former

better reflects recent intake, while the latter better

reflects long term intake status. Since seleno-

proteins are incorporated into the red blood cells

when they are made and the cells have a long half-

life, selenium content of whole blood is a better

reflection of intake over the previous months than

serum.

In order to adequately diagnose selenium

deficiency, the dietary form of the selenium intake by

the animals is important. Natural selenium,

predominantly in the form of selenomethionine is

metabolized and incorporated into selenium

dependent proteins, but can also be incorporated into

non-specific proteins in place of methionine.

Inorganic selenium is metabolized and predominantly

incorporated into selenium dependent proteins. Thus,

“normal” concentrations in serum and whole blood

differ depending on whether the dietary selenium is a

natural organic form or an inorganic supplement.

The recommended adequate liver selenium

concentration range in adult cattle is 0.25 to 0.50

ppm. In comparison, late term fetal or neonatal liver

should have 0.35 to 0.65 ppm selenium to be

considered normal.

Zinc Deficiency

Zinc is an essential mineral that is required

by all cells in animals. Zinc plays a role in numerous

enzymatic reactions. Deficiencies of zinc are

associated with reduced growth, poor immune

function, diminished reproductive performance, and

poor offspring viability, as well as skin lesions in

severe cases.

Tissue zinc concentrations do not reflect

body status well. Of the common samples tested,

liver and serum are the best indicators of zinc status.

But, serum and liver zinc can be altered by age,

infectious diseases, trauma, fever, and stress.

Response to zinc supplementation has shown that

some animals having low-end normal liver or serum

zinc can still show improvement in some clinical

conditions. Thus, liver and serum only verify

deficiency when these samples have very low zinc

content.

Vitamin A Deficiency

Vitamin A is an essential fat soluble vitamin

in ruminants. It is essential for all cell replications

and is especially important in epithelial integrity. It

plays an important role in tight junctions between

cells, as well as being an important an antioxidant in

the body and in mucosal secretions. Vitamin A

deficiency is associated with poor growth rates, poor

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feed intake, poor immune function, poor reproductive

performance, and high incidences of diarrhea in

calves. Loss of efficient tight junctions in the

epithelial cell lining of the digestive tract allows

opportunistic pathogens to invade and cause disease.

Vitamin A is provided in the diet via green

growing vegetation or supplementation. Dead,

brown forages have relatively no Vitamin A content.

Thus, for grazing livestock, they must accumulate

enough body reserves of vitamin A to carry them

through the winter and have enough left to provide

adequate vitamin A to their offspring. Therefore, it is

more common to see vitamin A deficiencies in the

springs after significant drought years, due to

decreased time for body reserve accumulation.

Unlike minerals, much of the vitamin A provided to

the neonate is via the colostrums and in milk fats.

Also, early calving has increased the incidence of

neonatal vitamin A deficiencies due to lack of green

forage at the time of parturition.

Vitamin A analysis can be efficiently

performed on serum or liver tissue. It is important

that samples be stored frozen and protected from

light to prevent degradation of the vitamin A.

Vitamin E Deficiency

Vitamin E is an essential fat soluble vitamin

in ruminants. It is essential for all cells as an

important antioxidant in the body in conjunction with

selenium. Vitamin E deficiency is associated with

poor growth rates, poor immune function, poor

reproductive performance, poor muscle function,

poor cardiovascular function, and “white muscle

disease”.

Vitamin E is provided in the diet via green

growing vegetation or supplementation. Dead,

brown forages have relatively no Vitamin E content.

Thus, for grazing livestock, they must accumulate

enough body reserves of vitamin E to carry them

through the winter and have enough left to provide

adequate vitamin E to their offspring. Therefore, it is

more common to see vitamin E deficiencies in the

springs after significant drought years, due to

decreased time for body reserve accumulation. Much

of the vitamin E provided to the neonate is via the

colostrums and in milk fats, although it is also

transferred across the placenta. Also, early calving

has increased the incidence of neonatal vitamin E

deficiencies due to lack of green forage at the time of

parturition.

Vitamin E analysis can be efficiently

performed on serum or liver tissue. It is important

that samples be stored frozen and protected from

light to prevent degradation of the vitamin E.

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Effects on Immune Status

Deficiencies in vitamins and minerals have a

two part impact on immune function in neonates.

Firstly, since neonates are still developing their

immune capabilities, these deficiencies have a direct

negative impact on that development. And, indirect

immune compromise is via the mother’s poor

immune function. At the time in which it is essential

that the mothers be immune competent in order to

produce antibodies for the colostrums, they often are

deficient due to depletion from movement to the

fetus. Additionally, poor immune function at the

time of vaccination can result in very poor vaccine

response, which in turn results in poor immune

memory and antibody production. Thus, herd

deficiencies would be expected to result in poor

colostrums quality. This poor quality equates to a

higher incidence of disease in the offspring due to

poor maternal protection. Often this is seen as high

incidence of neonatal diarrheas and/or high incidence

of neonatal/juvenile pneumonias.

Optimization of Supplementation

There are three basic time periods in which

it is critical that vitamin-mineral status is optimal.

Firstly, since the majority of minerals are transferred

to the fetus during the last trimester of gestation, the

three months prior to parturition are essential for

offspring to be born with adequate body reserves and

leave the mothers with enough to have good immune

status for colostrum production. Secondly, as these

vitamin-mineral deficiencies play a significant role in

reproductive health, the time period from parturition

to breeding is critical to ensure that the mother’s

system is replenished for optimal breed-back

efficiency. And, thirdly, any time period in which

animals are to be vaccinated, one must ensure

adequate vitamin-mineral status in order to maximize

response to vaccines. I routinely suggest that animals

be on a well balanced vitamin-mineral

supplementation plan for a minimum of 30 days prior

to any vaccination.

Summary

A variety of samples can be tested for

vitamin-mineral content, but may not provide any

indication of the overall mineral status of the animal.

Appropriate diagnosis of mineral status involves

thorough evaluation of groups of animals. The

evaluation should include a thorough health history,

feeding history, supplementation history, and analysis

of several animals for their mineral status.

Dietary mineral evaluation should only be

used augment the mineral evaluation of animal

groups. If minerals are deemed to be adequate in the

diet, but the animals are found to be deficient,

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antagonistic interactive effects of other minerals need

to be investigated. As an example, high sulfur or iron

can cause deficiencies in copper and selenium even

when there are adequate concentrations in the diet.

Overall, common vitamin-mineral

deficiencies are significant hindrances to profitability

in the livestock industry. Poor reproductive

performance results in increased incidence of culling

for open cows. Poorer than optimal feed efficiency

and weight gain impact the bottom line in terms of

pounds of cattle sales. And, poor calf health results

in deaths and disease. The resultant increased disease

incidence results in lost income in terms of treatment

costs and poorer overall growth rates and gains in

affected animals.

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Micro-greens Operations


Carol and Russ Peterson Cove View Gardens

Cove View Gardens is located in the shadow of the Cove Mountain near Richfield, Utah. The Peterson family has built a state of the art hydroponic greenhouse for growing the freshest quality lettuce which assures the safest possible lettuce. State certified well water eliminates possible ground or irrigation water bacteria from entering the growing system. Cove View Gardens is preservative and pesticide free. Beneficials, like ladybugs, are used to take care of any unwanted pests in our greenhouse. Cove View Gardens deliver living lettuce to stores and restaurants with the roots attached.


Carol and Russ will discuss their business operations.

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Benchmarking – Calibrating Your Business Guidance System


Jay Olsen Farm/Ranch Management Instructor Snow College

Jay Olsen was raised on a family farm and ranch in Manti, Utah. He has cowboyed, farmed, and ranched in Utah, Florida and Idaho. For the past 16 years, Jay has worked with farmers and ranchers in South Central Utah as a Farm/Ranch Management Instructor at Snow College. He has taught and advised over 350 farm families in business management. Mr. Olsen also teaches Snow College Agriculture classes and is currently the Director of Agriculture and Farm/Ranch Business Management at Snow College.

Nationally, Mr. Olsen has served on the Uniform Farm Management Project committee, the National Farm Management Benchmarking committee and Secretary, President Elect, and President of the National Farm Ranch Management Education Association board. Mr. Olsen graduated from BYU with a B.S. degree in Agricultural Economics (Farm/Ranch Management), and a M.S. degree in Animal Science (Reproduction and Physiology).

He and his wife Lauri have four children.


Determining your best businesses measurement benchmarks; in this presentation we will discuss many benchmark measurement options and answer questions like: what should I look at, are they reasonable, reliable, and repeatable, can I find comparable benchmarks within in the industry.

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Beef Red Book – practical applications and examples for analyzing your beef herd and introducing a Crop Record Book for recording crop records


Jay Olsen Farm/Ranch Management Instructor Snow College

Mr. Olsen was raised on a family farm and ranch in Manti Utah. He has cowboyed, farmed, and ranched in Utah, Florida and Idaho. For the past 16 years, Mr. Olsen has worked with farmers and ranchers in South Central Utah as a Farm/Ranch Management Instructor at Snow College. He has taught and advised over 350 farm families in business management. Mr. Olsen also teaches Snow College Agriculture classes and is currently the Director of Agriculture and Farm/Ranch Business Management at Snow College.




Two useful tools for any farmer and/or rancher will be discussed in this presentation. Participants will receive an Excel spreadsheet for use in their own business to record and analyze cow herd records and crop production records. True to life examples of data will be inputed and used to benchmark the farm and ranch.

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Excel with Excel


Ron Patterson Utah State University Extension

Ron Patterson has been the County Agriculture Agent in Carbon County since 2005. Prior to that, he taught high school agriculture and farm business management at Eastern Idaho Technical College. In addition, he was a livestock nutritionist at a feed mill in Terreton, Idaho. Ron has run several small businesses to help his children learn to work. Through all of this, Ron has used spreadsheets to analyze financial records and develop decision-making tools. His most recent, widely-used tool is a spreadsheet that helps with boom sprayer calibration calculations.


This four hour workshop will be done in three sessions:

Session 1 Excel basics. Learn how to navigate through Excel and use it for various purposes. This is for people who are unfamiliar with the software. 1 hour

Session 2 Guided practice. Use Excel with several guided exercises to become familiar with some of the capabilities of Excel. 1 hour

Session 3 Personal projects. Receive assistance as you work to develop your own spreadsheets to create analysis or decision-making tools. 2 hours or as needed.

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Planning for Better Business


Alan K. Christensen Utah Small Business Development Center at Snow College

Prior to becoming the Director of the Utah SBDC at Snow College, Alan Christensen, owned and operated a number of small business ventures and also worked as the Marketing Director for a Ford & Mercury automobile dealership. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management and earned a Master’s of Education in Instructional Technology from Utah State University. Christensen is certified as a training facilitator by three of the most widely recognized names in entrepreneurial and leadership training: The NxLeveL Educational Foundation, The Kauffman Foundation, and FranklinCovey.

Clients with whom Christensen has worked with have been recognized on a state and multi-state level by the U.S. Small Business Administration with awards of success such as: “Home-Based Business Champions of the Year” and “Exporter of the Year.” As a sought-after business expert, Christensen has presented at many local, state and national conferences on a broad range of business topics.

Christensen also oversees central Utah’s Custom Fit Training program, which assists area businesses in securing training and education solutions – to meet the ever-changing needs of their workforce.


Whether starting a new business or growing an existing business, all of the hard work that leads to success is made much easier and more productive when preceded by proper planning. In addition to covering the basics of a good start-up or growth plan, this presentation will:• Help clarify your core business strategy,• Consider the rules for winning in that strategy,• Begin the development of your plan using a simple frameworkBusiness plans developed using this process are valuable as a means of assessing feasibility, securing financing and guiding operations within the business.

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365 Days of Not Feeding Hay Makes One Year of Not Feeding Hay


Jay Olsen Farm/Ranch Management Instructor

Mr. Olsen was raised on a family farm and ranch in Manti Utah. He has cowboyed, farmed, and ranched in Utah, Florida and Idaho. For the past 16 years, Mr. Olsen has worked with farmers and ranchers in South Central Utah as a Farm/Ranch Management Instructor at Snow College. He has taught and advised over 350 farm families in business management. Mr. Olsen also teaches Snow College Agriculture classes and is currently the Director of Agriculture and Farm/Ranch Business Management at Snow College.




Ranchers are wintering cows with no hay and reducing costs by 90%. This discussion will show examples of ranchers wintering their beef herd with no hay feeding. Be prepared to learn the secret of not starting your tractor all winter and saving hundreds of dollars in cow feeding costs.

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Grazing Healthy Animals


Kerry A. Rood, MS, DVM Utah State University


Kerry will discuss how to improve the health and wellbeing of livestock through preventative measures to avoid parasites, bloat and nutritional unbalance. He will also describe the body conditioning score for livestock.

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